Mom Abuse

It was a hard day for me as a mom. Actually the first half was wonderful. The kids played great together. Then the drama began. I made lunch for the boys..grilled cheese sandwiches. Hunter looked at it and declared he would not eat it. I told him I wasn't letting him eat anything else until he ate that sandwich. You have to understand something about Hunter...he is very picky and very stubborn when it comes to food. It is getting very old. After I told him he wouldn't eat anything else until the sandwich was gone, I realized that after he lets it sit out all day, it will be hard and gross and way more challenging to get him to eat. I decided to ground him to the table (seems like I'm always imposing some kind of grounding) until he ate his sandwich. He sat for about 30 minutes before the screaming and tears ensued. He asked me if he would be able to sleep in his bed when it was bedtime. I told him nonchalantly that if his sandwich was still there, he would have to lay on the chair to sleep. He screamed and cried. After the tears faded, he asked if he would get to go to his birthday party next Thursday. I told him he would miss it if his sandwich hadn't been eaten. More screaming and tears. Then he started saying really mean things about me like, "I don't like moms! They're mean! I don't want a mom! I only want a dad!!" I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry! I finally got sick of his screaming and told him he would be getting a spanking next time he screamed. After 4 spankings he was finally quiet. All of a sudden I saw him on the stairs (we were cleaning the basement). I told him he needed to be on his chair. He told me he was done with his sandwich. "You ate it all?" I asked him. He told me yes. I was skeptical, but went up to investigate. I was trying so hard not to smile when I came upstairs. Had I actually won after an hour of this nonsense? I inspected his plate (and the trash just in case) and found it was true. He ate it! "Did you like it?" I asked him. "Yes," he told me. "Next time I want it cut in little pieces like they did at Sam's Club." It always amazes me how Hunter can be screaming like a maniac one minute and then totally calm the next. Jacob also got mad at me tonight. He was talking back to me so I slapped him. "You are SO mean!" he told me. "I would rather be at SCHOOL!!" Sometimes it's really hard to be a mom!