Tantruming Our Way Around Town

My son is so cute.  I adore my little boy---he really is so sweet.  I guess that is why it is surprising and it isn't when his evil twin makes his appearance.  I mean, at the age of almost-five, he has taken self-depracating to a new level.  This past weekend was Pleasant Valley Weekend--the first in several years.  When I was little, I remember doing the bike-a-thon and going to Pleasant Valley Weekend every year.  So I was excited that it was back and I would get to go again and this time bring my son.  Our agenda was to enjoy the parade first, then head down to the festivities in Cady Park.  My son has a love-hate relationship with fire trucks and emergency vehicles in general--he loves the big shiny trucks with lights and hates the noisy horn and sirens.

Now, this was my son's very first parade!  Imagine if you will living on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with well over a million other people and they all are trying to go to the same parade down in Waikiki, and there is very limited and extremely expensive parking.  Yeah, no can--we opted out of the parades on Oahu, so I was really excited about taking Gav to this parade.    To watch my son, you would think that getting ready to go and see a parade was an act of torture.  There was plenty of screaming and kicking and threats.  By the time we got to Pleasant Valley, I was already tired out.  After awhile Gav settled down and watched the parade in wide-eyed wonder.  And then the fire trucks came.  They were blowing their horns and running the sirens and that freaked him out, so he wanted my hands over his ears.  He was pressing my hands into his ears so hard, his little ears were bright red.  We backed up from the road and sat down and then he seemed to really enjoy things.  When they started throwing candy along the parade route, he got into it really quick!  After the parade, we sat outside at the pizza place and had some lunch and then went down to the fair.  There were games and rides, food booths, activity booths, and informational booths.  It was warm and there were lots of people there which was really great to see.  Gav was excited, but he threw in just enough snottiness that I was ready to curtail our day.  He wanted snacks so I bought him snacks and then he didn't want snacks.  I was determined to get some kettle corn; I had to wait like 15 minutes for the lemonade and kettle corn and found my parents and my son in the shade.  Gav wanted to go on the cars ride and I said he could go.  Well, he enjoyed the ride, but when I told him one ride was it, all hell broke loose.

A tantrum-ing we will go!  So now we're two for two---first a really ugly tantrum was shared with the town of Millbrook, and now, Pleasant Valley got an encore showing.  I had to pick my son up and carry him like a football.  The whole time he was screaming and kicking me and trying to bite whatever part of me or my clothes he could get his pearly whites on.  I passed a bunch of teenagers with my screaming 50 pound 5 year old and told them to let this scene be birth control for them.  We made it out by the road and I dropped him into the grass so he could continue his rant without further injuring me.  He refused to walk to the car so up he went and I carried him kicking and screaming, literally, down the road to the car.  It was the walk of shame really---I felt like a crappy mom.  And I got to share the lovely tantrum with all of the cars going by that were driving into town.  My mom jokingly wanted to know how many 911 calls were coming in about a child abduction because of the kicking and screaming and my road-marching to the car with a purpose!  Eventually he calmed down and apologized when we got back home and then he had a nap.  I wouldn't be surprised if one day I picked up the Poughkeepsie Journal and found a new column and a picture of my and Gav's faces with a caption reading:  Which Town Will They Terrorize Next?