I recognize that this is going to sound a little preachy, but I promise: it's not about you, it's about me.

Mort and I have been having alot of problems getting along recently. With others he seems to be as I would hope: he's friendly, kind, polite, generous, and joyous. At home he is sarcastic, defiant, and downright mean.

I have been walking around with the weight of the world on my shoulders wondering what to do and how to get my little guy back. I recognize he's got a lot on his plate right now with full-day kindergarten. But I have a lot on my plate too and I really don't need to add my mean and hateful offspring to the list. I do everything I can! I whine to myself.

But y'know, what? I don't. Mort has been such a sunny child for so long that I had forgotten about time-outs. I had forgotten about giving him a chance to get himself under control. I had forgotten about speaking in a calm voice and refusing to stoop to his level, because y'know, I'm the adult. I had forgotten about consistency and calmness in the face of his anger.

I am the parent. I need to parent him. He needs me to parent him. From what I understand, he is at an age when alot of frightening realizations are coming to light. He is recognizing his own feelings and his power and lack there of. He is identifying with the emotions of others(btw, Don't write freaking books about donkeys and magic pebbles in which the donkey turns himself into a rock for years on end and his parents think he's dead. Who the heck slapped a big 'ol award on that one? Asshats.) Plus, he is in a situation where 5 days a week, 8 hours a day, he is coexisting with a bunch of other kids(many of whom I would never let him interact with, much less interact with on a daily basis) and under the thumb of adults who are not me. He is learning, for better or worse, to be a part of society. Which, for the most part, is for the worse.