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Since Ryan got a watch, he has been a bit of a tyrant when it comes to time. In second grade, they had to take the scheduled times down since Ryan would get upset if they varied from those times. He was better knowing that b followed a but not always at time x.

Last year in third grade, Ryan got upset about a 30 second delay and pushed his teacher into the window and bruised her. His teacher is small and not much bigger than him. His temper comes from both me and his father. His impulse to lash out comes from his father. He lost quite a few privileges that day. One of them was his watch. He was told that he was no longer allowed to wear during school hours. (I wasn’t told of all the lost privileges but learned of them over time.) Ryan wore his watch on the bus then tucked it away in his back pack before he got to school. Then he put it back on as the bus pulled away. (I think the inclusion specialist thought he left he left at home and never checked his backpack.)

Anytime the bus was late, we faced possible meltdowns. Ryan would want to be driven to school, Andy would want to wait for the bus. If we waited for the late bus, Ryan would get upset and then Andy would get upset because of Ryan. I had to decide whose whining I could tolerate more. Poor Andy usually lost.

Bath time is at 8:00. Not early or late or we face possible tantrums. Bedtime is at 8:30 but can be a minute or two early. Ryan likes to be out of bed before sunrise and that means about 5:00 am these past few weeks. I can’t use an alarm clock to wake him either.

Today we went to get haircuts. Most people know that stylists are typically late. At least mine have always been. It used to really annoy me especially when I made the effort to be there on time or usually early. Since having kids, I am much more flexible when it comes to time. And at the past few appointments, Ryan has been OK with the delay. Today he was not and the breakdown started. He was upset and Andy started getting upset, “Can Ryan stop?” which caused Ryan to scream. Oh joy. Ryan wanted to go home but I wouldn’t allow it. I talked quietly but firmly and he did calm down some. At least he was good for Dana and showed no signs of his mood with her.

I will be sure to tell them a later time when we go back next month.

I look at the clock and it’s 4:41 am and Ryan is wanting to get up. Um..no! It’s too early. He finally slips out of bed at 5:00 am. This used to be me. I loved getting up early when the house was still quiet. About a year ago, Ryan go upset if I woke up before him, he wanted morning cuddles. So I let him get up first. I missed my quiet time so I started staying up later at night. I can’t no longer pop out of bed in the morning like he can. It also helps that he goes to bed at 8:30 pm and is quickly asleep.

Andy takes after his father seeming to need less than average sleep. He is usually awake when I got to bed at 10:30 pm but stays in his room. Even going to bed that late, he gets up rather easily at 6:00 am. Oh to be young again!

We had plans to go to the mall today so Andy could ride the elevators. But first we went swimming. One thing I gave up with kids is wearing a watch. I got CPS pretty bad when I was pregnant with them and couldn’t stand the watch on my wrist. The CPS got better but never went away after the boys were born and I still can’t stand a watch on my wrist. There are plenty of clocks around the house so I don’t miss my watch. I also tend not to pay too much attention to the time anymore like I used to. Ryan is my clock these days. Andy too those he doesn’t wear a watch and doesn’t see to look at the clock much. Anyway, between the 2 of them, they let me know when it is time to do something. Like this morning and going to the pool. I didn’t even look at the clock when we left and we were there 5 minutes too early. They rarely open the pool on time and don’t even think about early. They were 10 minutes late this morning so the 15 minutes ruined Ryan’s day. He wouldn’t swim again. I let him go to the car to get his book so he stopped pouting and whining right away. The pool was relatively empty, only 2 people. Andy was done swimming in less than an hour.

We had plenty of errands to run. Ryan got mad that I didn’t go to the bank he expected me to go to. But it would have been out of my way. He didn’t care. Again, he was upset and didn’t want to eat lunch. I told him he had to. He said the fries were too hot but I saw him eating them within about 5 minutes.

Ryan had said days before that he didn’t want to go to the mall to ride in the elevators. I said he didn’t have to ride in the elevators but he had to go. He had a good time, especially when I let them go up and down the escalators in the main court. I let Andy go on all the escalators and elevators in the mall. He was happy and very excited when I showed him that the escalators were made by Kone. He decided that the elevators were Kone as well though there was nothing to say that they were.

We went into B Dalton Books. Ryan wanted a Thomas movie screen book but I said no when I saw it was $25! He would only look at it once and then lose the pieces. It was just for the novelty of it. The boys wandered into Build-a-Bear. It was busy and I didn’t say they could get a bear. They don’t ask. I am not happy with the poor quality of the bears. They are falling apart and we have fluff all over the house. We went to the Apple Store and I got to see an iPhone for the very first time. Very nice. Ryan was liking the iPod touch. Andy was happy to play the kids games on the computers. We left pretty empty handed. I got some hand lotions and votive candles and the boys got nothing. They didn’t care.

We had time to kill so we went to Barnes & Noble. I think we spent too much time there, Andy was starting to get into trouble for trying to sit on someone’s lap. Ryan got a Mario Kart Wii guide. We don’t even own the game. He loves to read those guides. Now if only he would poop on the potty so we can set up the Wii.

sigh.