Sammy has me at my wits end a dozen times a day, but has me laughing and amazed equally as often. He doesn't listen to a word I say, and I go back and forth between wondering if I need to get his ears checked, and realizing that he has learned to completely tune out the sound of my voice. For a while I excused him as "easily distracted" but these days I think it's more willful and defiant. If he doesn't want to do something, he won't, and then just say "I forgot" or "I got distracted." Even little things, like go brush your teeth and get in bed. He will literally sit on the couch and look away for 3 seconds, then look back and start talking to me about something random trying to distract me so he doesn't have to go do what he's been told!
Last week he wanted something off the top shelf of the freezer. I told him i'd get it and not to open the door. So of course he opens the freezer all the while telling me he just wants to look at it. I'm standing there telling him to close the door and get out of the freezer and he's half looking at me still telling me why he needs to do what he's doing in spite of what I say, and starts climbing up the freezer trying to get at what he wants. This wasn't the first incident of the day and at that point I lost it. I pulled him out of the freezer, slammed the door, and told him that if he could not listen to me, I would have to give him away to a new mom who he would listen to. Not my finest parenting moment. I was all ready for him to glare and give me a rude comeback, but instead he started crying and said, "Mom, Heavenly Fathers plan is not for families to be taken apart!" It took me a second to figure out what to say next as I realized he really has been listening in Primary and that he counted on that truth. So I told him he was right, that Heavenly Father wants families to be together forever, but that we have to earn the right to stay together. We have to be good and kind to each other and part of being kind to mommy is being obedient and listening to what I say. He promised he'd try to listen, but our moment of understanding lasted like 5 seconds before I had to remind him that we had just talked about listening.
A few days later we were going through our nightly ritual of sending him back to bed 56 times before he actually goes to sleep. I'm patient the first few rounds, but had gotten to the point where I yell and threaten to lock him in his room if he comes down again. I don't know why I don't start with the locking in threat, it's usually very effective. Anyway, I yelled up the stairs and he whispered back, "But Mom, I wrote a letter to Jesus Christ." Of course I can't be mad about that, even though I really wanted him to go to bed. So I told him to come downstairs and show me. He drew a picture of him and Jesus and asked if we could take it to Him. So I explained that we can't actually drive to Jesus' house and give him the picture. "But, what if we have a hundred gas in the car?" Which is his way of saying if the gas tank is full. So I told him to go hang it on his board in his room and Jesus would know Sammy had drawn a picture for him. "So, can Jesus see through walls?" Yes Sammy, He can see everything. "But how? does he have special goggles?" He finally went back to bed and stayed there. And I sat thinking about how Sammy understands gospel truths. He has been told that Jesus was resurrected and that He lives, and so Sam doesn't see why we can't go to his house. He believes prefectly.
A couple months ago, Thad's parent were taking the kids home from a reception for us so we could stay to help clean up. Part way home Sammy asks, "Grandpa, are you running out of gas?" "No, why?" "The trees are going by slow. They go by a lot faster when Mommy and Daddy drive."
Sammy was a pretty late talker, and still mispronounces quite a few things. I've never really corrected him because it sounds so cute, but recently we decided it was time for the baby talk to end. My mom was correcting him and he just told her, "Grandma, I know, but that's not how I say it." He's so stubborn!
He is constantly trying to rough house with Peter, who doesn't appreciate it in the slightest, and pesters Andi out of her mind, on purpose. But then he runs out of swim class all smiles and gives me a hug and says "I just love you Mom."
So I've come to the conclusion that he will probably never behave properly, and always do exactly what he wants to do regardless of what I say, but I won't be able to stay mad at him for it. I think it's that whole "Mother's love" business.
