There are times, even at this young age (his not mine), that we butt heads, HARD. Neither of us will give in until Mommy steps in and calls a truce. Sure, we both say "sorry" later and leave things on a high note, but we're already in this pattern that we have to break at some point soon. Maybe it's the Italian blood (my 50% and his 25%) but I doubt it.
And then there's a day like today.
He made a special effort (after being a holy terror/meltdown mode to both Mommy and Daddy last night) to come up to me this morning and say good morning and give me a hug. Sure he proceeded to run right back to Mommy for the rest of the morning routine but there's this maturity level in him, scarily, that he's recognizing that he was not good and he wants to make up for it.
But that was only the start of it. By a stroke of luck, I called Mary Kay and told her that I was leaving work and that, instead of her running to get him from school, that I'd do it. She was buried in work and it was going to be a help to her as well so it worked out for both of us.
I got to school and he ran to me full speed (I fear every time that he's going to trip and face-plant on the tile even though he doesn't). He was super excited to tell me that he took his nap today (this, after two days of NOT doing so, thus the meltdown last night) AND that he listened to his teachers.
Quick side-note: As his birthday is Saturday, he's going through a transition at school as he 'graduates' from the 2½-3 year old class to the much larger 3-4 year old class. Transitions usually run pretty smoothly but he's going from a class size of 8 to a class size of 16-20 and he's actually sort of a shy kid, but as an only child he loves to compete for the attention because he gets so much at home. So he spends ½ a day in his current room and ½ a day in the new room for 1-2 weeks and then makes the final move. These changes do mess with his discipline to take his naps and listen to his teachers, so the daily reminders each morning are very important for him to prove to us when we pick him up. He actually looked at his new teacher (Miss Kristy) and asked her to confirm that he did, in fact, listen to her today.
So then we went over to his cubby hole to get his coat, hat, gloves, and his daily report (tells us what he ate, what he learned, when he napped and did his bathroom duties) and he reached right in and grabbed out a drawing he did today. He gave it to me and proudly proclaimed "It's for you daddy!"
I was sort of surprised because he's never really drawn anything for me specifically, it's usually been for Mommy or his Nana or Grandma. So I asked him almost incredulously "Are you sure it's for me?".
His response had a tone that almost sounded like he was offended by my doubt "Yeah, for you, it's a doggy."
Well I'll be damned, it DID look like a doggy.
Later on, as he was getting ready to head upstairs for bed (we alternate nights and tonight was Mommy's turn) I thanked him again for the picture of the doggy and asked him if it was okay if I brought it into work to put up on my desk (he's been to my office a couple times and loves seeing all the pictures of him and all the cars I have on my desk)
"Sure Daddy" and everything in the world seemed to be perfect.
