Creative misbehavior

My in-laws were here for about a month during October and November. It was wonderful. We laughed, we talked, and we played. Perhaps the coolest thing about them being here is that for a month, I didn't have to take my kids to school in the mornings. It was like being childless again. I would get up, take a shower, have a cup of coffee, make breakfast, and then I would kiss them on their little pumpkin heads and go to school. I know that the kids made it to daycare, because they were there when I went to pick them up. The kids got to take their time eating, getting dressed, playing.

As a direct consequence of this, the week after they left was ... unpleasant. The 3 mornings I had to take them to school before going to school myself generally ended with me yelling, Gummy Bear crying, Cheeky Monkey confused, and all of us grumpy and unpleasant by the time we got to school.

And so, I went and bought this:

Because Gummy Bear gets up freakishly early, he usually sits on the couch and quietly plays with the DS or iPad until we get up. We generally find him, still in his PJs, cuddled up and enjoying some digital entertainment. Now, he has to get up, go potty, get dressed, and brush his teeth before he can play games in the morning. He can earn additional video game/TV time if he can get through to after dinner without whining and/or he cleans up his toys. You may have noticed there aren't a lot of "no whining" stars.

This worked beautifully for the first week. This morning when I got up, I was surprised that Bear wasn't up yet. It was nearly 7 am, and he's usually up between 6 and 6:30. I went into the bathroom to start my morning routine when I saw Raffe on the floor of the bathroom. I opened his door to find the lights out, him sitting on a chair with the DS and headphones, still in pajamas. Trying not to chuckle out loud, I told him that if he got up right now and did his morning chores, he could still play a few minutes of DS before breakfast.

And then the hysterics started. "I waaaannnnttt to play!!!" he cried. I reminded him that he had things to do before he played. So he started to pull on his shirt. Then he looked up at me and said, "There are games on my camera. I'll just play those." "No you won't, if you want to play any games or watch any TV today", I said.

Thinking it was finished, I went back into the bathroom, only to hear him say "I'll just hide it where you can't find it." And so, I walked back into his room and said, "OK, then I'll just start taking toys out of your room until I find it."

"NOOO!!!!"

And thus, the boy was toileted, dressed and teeth brushed. He dragged his feet so much that there were no video games this morning before breakfast. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.