Emancipation

I kicked Caleb out of the house today. I'm not ready for this crap. He isn't even 4 years old. What a brat! Ugh!

It started like a lot of the battles in my house start. One of the boys, Caleb in this anecdote, was bugging Levi till he cried. I put Caleb in his room.
Caleb said he wouldn't do it again. But he'd already done the crime and he knows very well what the penalty is. So, he still had to serve his time. He cried. He screamed. He yelled, "I hate you!!!!"
Yeah.
Hold everything!
a. How does he even know to say that? Kyle and I don't say that kind of thing. I vaguely remember watching a show with them recently where the kid did that. No joke, I even wondered about the influence they were getting.
b. Nice try. I'm the only person on this planet that loves that kid enough to deal with him constantly. I know people might say that's silly, but try dealing with someone else's child for a while and see how unconditional you feel.
I took him outside to the front porch and I told him he can go find a family he likes, because I will not take care of someone that hates me; I shut the door in his face. He cried quite loudly and honestly, I felt like a wonderful trailer park family. Oh well, extreme times, ya know. I told him he could come back and live with us once he apologized. I left him out there another 10 seconds or so and then he said he was sorry. I let him in but sent him to his room. For good measure, I cried and told him he hurt my feelings. Not in a sweet "let's hug it out" way but in a "you can stay in room cause you're mean" way. I know it was totally childish, but sometimes it seems like they understand that better.
I'm pretty tough as a mom and this didn't get under my skin. The crying is, I'm sure, misleading. Trust me, it was just a bit of theatrics.
TBS seems to promote the idea that you aren't a good parent till your kid says they hate you. I must be an awesome parent; most folks have to wait till their kids are teenagers.