It's Mother's Day here today. My parents, my niece, and my in-laws came for a visit this afternoon - which should have been pleasant for all concerned.
Why is it that after all my effort of baking a cake, providing food for our visitors, buying gifts for both mothers, and making sure that the entire house was clean, did my ds (4.8) decide to carry on like a possessed person this afternoon??? It was only last Thursday that I told him how proud I was of his good behaviour lately... well NOT today. Firstly he defied his dad several times when told not to do something, then when my MIL and FIL turned up, ds decided he wanted to have a lie down on the lounge with his blanket and pillow (where we were all sitting!!) and threw a wobbly when dh told him to move. Then - when I thought things were finally settling down - ds told MIL & FIL that it was time for them to go home.
He honestly must have vibes that I want him to behave for my MIL, because this is the second time that he's behaved woefully when she's around - I guess I'm extra sensitive about it because she's made several comments to me about my 'badly behaved' nieces (she's called them 'wild' and 'little monsters'). Ds doesn't see her very often anyway and therefore probably doesn't really see her as his grandmother, and he says that FIL 'scares him'... I don't know why though, as he is a nice man. I was thoroughly worn out when everyone left and I quite frankly I felt like knocking ds into next week. Sorry, but you know what I mean. It seemed that no amount of threatening or coaxing him to behave today worked at all.. it's times like this that I wonder whether or not I have raised a civilised child. Perhaps it's a maturity/testosterone thing but I certainly hope he grows out of this. Any assurances of other people being in the same boat would be of great encouragement....