Post-Weekend Update

Sunny was very difficult this weekend. On Sunday morning, he showed some very bad sportsmanship and emotional volatility while playing a board game -- he called his Nana a cheater. The consequence was losing ALL games for the rest of the day, including the car-spotting game he's crazy about. The only time he wasn't difficult on Sunday was when we went on an outing (hiking up Stone Mountain) with two friends of his.

It was a lot of fun. I made my husband stop and buy a pack of sugar-free mints before we set out, and the mints worked like a charm to keep the kids safe and in line. "Don't run downhill like that, and I'll give you all one mint when we get to that tree over there." I know there's a lot of parenting experts out there would disapprove strongly... but bribery always gets results, so I love it.

The kids told the silliest knock-knock jokes on the way home.

"Knock knock." "Who's there?" "Chicken!" "Chicken who?" "CHICKEN I LOVE YOU!"

"Knock knock." "Who's there?" "Butt!" "Butt who?" "Butt Cheeks!"

"Knock knock." "Who's there?" "Butt!" "Butt who?" "Big fat butt with four butt cheeks and a banana split on top!"

Otherwise, though, Sunny was being a lot more clingy, oppositional, hyper and volatile than usual. I could barely even have him read at night, he would get so frustrated. Probably some of it was due to the changes in routine of last week. Ojiichan was here, the election was going on, and so forth. This week my dad just left for a while, and Guy will be out on a trip, so there'll be even more changes in routine.

On another note... I'm worried about Sunny's baby brother. I usually don't think about him much. I try not to. I have absolutely zero control over his situation at this point, that's why. But his foster mom recently told me he might have a certain medical condition that is very serious. She'll know more soon after some tests come back. It wouldn't affect our decision to adopt him if we can... but I feel really sad for the pain he may be experiencing now. He lost his mother when he was three weeks old, and he shouldn't have to suffer more.