Running Away

On Sunday, we bbq'ed hamburgers and hot dogs and had some friends over. 

Aj has been on a really weird "food-makes-me-break-out-in-hives" mood and every meal has been a struggle.

*sigh*

somedays, i wish we could just get him an NG tube. It would make mealtime so much easier. But I digress...

So, he wouldn't eat his hot dog. He's eaten them before he just wouldn't yesterday. No, he doesn't have a stomach virus or a sore throat. He's just a stinker when eating is involved.  

Long story short, he hid all of his hot dog behind a cooler on the porch, told me he was done eating and his deception was promptly discovered by the dog.

I don't like lying.

We sent him to his room for the remainder of the evening.

When I went upstairs to check on him, he was unsuccessfully trying to shove his pillow into his backpack.

me: "What are you doing?"

him: {with giant crocodile tears} i'm running away. you guys are MEAN.

me: "well, i think you're backpack is going to be too small for that pillow, shall we get a bigger bag?"

him: surprised nod

me: calmly taking inventory of the piles in his room, "wow, you put a lot of thought into what you are going to bring! i'm impressed. i always knew you were smart. here, let's get it all in the bag."

...he proceeds to put the following items in a very large soccer bag...

blanket, pillow pet, 2 favorite stuffed animals, 3 books, his piggy bank, drawing paper and a pencil, a box of tissues and his "Good-nites" (pull-ups), 2 light sabers (in addition to the one on his belt loop), thundercats sword, night-vision goggles and laser.

I hugged him and told him he should go say good-bye to his brother and sister because they would probably miss him a lot.

Okay, so, i totally knew that he would never get past his siblings. my kids are fierce competitors with each other and they drive each other crazy but, at the end of the day, they adore and protect each other. I knew Gavin would appeal to reason and help him logically understand why he couldn't leave. I knew Sydney would be hysterical and well, Aj will do (or not do) anything to make her stop crying. It was a mean, mamipulative parent tactic I employed, in oder to avoid {another} confrontation with that child, but... i was tired.

Aj went in to Gavin's room to say good-bye... 10 minutes later, they were hugging, crying and unpacking Aj's stuff. I joined them and silently help put all his stuff back where it belonged.

Aj insisted we drag his mattress into his brother's room last night. He just wanted to be close to Gavin.

Maybe i should've felt upset that Aj was more able to understand the importance of his place in our family because of something his brother said instead of me, but I was just grateful that when he was mad at me, he had someone he loves and trusts be there for him.

And maybe it's really wrong, but the whole evening - from the hot dogs, to the box of tissues he packed, to the heartfelt talk with his brother and the sleepover - just made me really happy.

It's kind of what life is all about.