Whatta day.

I'm typing this on my phone as I listen to the tail end of Barrett's long, drawn-out, infernal fussing-it-out for bedtime. He's been at this for over an hour. I was thinking something was wrong, until I realized he was totally happy to play with my necklace in the rocking chair. And I'm like; "Barrett, what are you doing? You never give me a problem at bedtime." And he's all, "Thought you were gonna put me down early tonight? NOPE, sucker! That was a nap, and now I'm ready to play at 10:30!" But Barrett has met his match, I'm afraid. It's not playtime.

And Will is such a trooper, laying in bed and listening to his brother making all that noise, just holding his blanket and resting. Every time I've gone in there to soothe and readdress, he sits up in bed and starts pointing out all the artwork above his crib. "See elk?" he whispers loudly. "See big fish, firetruck?"

But Will hasn't been so chill all day. In fact, right before Brian came home, he had his biggest meltdown to date. I've been pretty blessed with a kid who hasn't been given to tantrums thus far, so this might sound pretty mild to some, but it was a showstopper here.

This is how it went:
Naptime is over, and we're heading downstairs. I'm a little flustered because somehow, two hours have gone by and I haven't gotten my stuff done. Brian's coming home in about 20 minutes and I still have a sink full of dishes, a full, clean dishwasher load, and a clean load of folded laundry on the dining room table that needs to be put away, Will happily walks beside me, blanket and tractor in one arm and a Bob the Builder DVD in the other hand.

(Aside: my firstborn is in love with BtB right now. It's just one Bob the Builder Christmas DVD we've borrowed from the library a few times, and we recently picked it up on Wednesday. This time, he wants to carry the case around everywhere he goes, talking to Bob and showing him all his toys. It's quite an obsession. I haven't even let him watch it yet - he gets to on Saturday - and he doesn't want to go anywhere without "Bob.")

So we see some toys that I keep in the guest room. Will wants to play with them. I tell him sure, we can play with those toys downstairs. We're standing at the top of the stairs. I grab the bucket of toys and take Will's tractor and blanket and I take his hand to walk carefully down the steps with me.

Will decides he wants to play with those toys upstairs.

No, honey, I say. We're going to play with them downstairs, because Mommy's got a lot of work to do and you need to help Mommy get the job done and blah blah blah.

NO, William is insistent. MUST PLAY UPSTAIRS.

Patiently, I explain again.

Unconvinced, William persists.

I'm explaining. He starts crying. Put on a happy heart, I say. Come with me right now, I say, my voice still calm but oh, just barely.

I'm standing on the steps with Wiggly Barrett in my left arm, tractor in left hand, blanket thrown over left shoulder, and giant bucket of toys under right arm, a bunch of crap to do downstairs, a ticking clock, and a toddler having a mini meltdown over not being able to play with his toys in his desired location. (Trust me, they'd play just the same downstairs.) I've been trying to reason with him calmly and I can't do it anymore. I snap. I grab his hand. "Listen to me!" I yell at him. He's startled and shocked and starts crying louder, surprised that I'm yelling and mad because I won't give him his toys.

I decide that I am NOT going to sit here and yell at him. Patient reasoning is not working either. I set down the toys and pick him up. I carry him, one-armed, into his crib, grab the Bob the Builder CD out of his hand, and say, "I will come back when you can calm down."

I believe that if I'd just left him in there with Bob, he would have been fine. But I had the GALL to take Bob and Will just fell apart. He sobbed/yelled for twenty minutes straight - STRAIGHT - "I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB!"

In the meantime, I got everything done downstairs. Clothes put away, dishwasher emptied and filled, table set. All to the soundtrack of a miserable little man.

I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB! I WANT BOB!

You understand.

Eventually I went back up. Brian was going to be home in a few minutes and I didn't want him to come home to this. I had planned on waiting but this had gone on long enough. "William, you will not get Bob back until you stop crying."

INSTANT stop.

I walked up to the crib. "William, throwing a fit is not okay. I want you to say you're sorry to Mommy."

"I sowwy Mommy."

"I forgive you. Now Mommy has a big job to do and you need to come downstairs and help.. You need to help by playing with your toys downstairs. Can you have a happy heart and play downstairs?"

He looked up with a perky smile and said, "Yes we can!"

Bob, what have you done to my child?