Carrots

Carrots.  Such a simple vegetable, don't you think?  Well, in this house, carrots are not so simple.  In fact, they lead to such a difficult afternoon, this is the first time I could bring myself to write about the incident!

Last Friday - the great day of Ryan's homecoming and the carpet being installed in the basement - Reagan had an absolute meltdown over his carrots.  It started at lunch - he was supposed to eat his 4 slices of baby carrots (2 baby carrots total), but he refused.  The carpet people were still installing so I didn't want have an incident while they were here.  I told Reagan he could take his nap, but that the first snack he would have when we woke would be the carrots.  He acknowledged and agreed.

After a rather short nap, Reagan came out of his room asking for a snack.  I told him he needed to eat his carrots first and then I would give him whatever he wanted.  This sent him into a downward spiral.  A whole HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES of complete temper tantrum, screaming, crying Reagan.  After about 45 minutes or so, I had a breakdown moment and started yelling back at him because I was so angry.  Not my best mother moment, I fully admit.  In fact, I felt so ashamed of how I reacted, I almost started crying while sitting on my bed with the door closed.  I finally regained my composure and went out to calmly talk to Reagan.  He still took awhile to understand he needed to eat the carrots, but he finally gave in and ate them.

Why, you may ask, would I let this continue on for so long and over such a petty thing as carrots?  It was no longer about actually eating the carrots, it was all about letting Reagan know who was in charge.  I couldn't handle the crying after 15 minutes, but if I told him he didn't have to eat the carrots, I would be sending him the wrong message.  He would assume he could act this way going forward and I certainly wasn't going to let that happen!  It was such a difficult afternoon but we made it through.

I am still ashamed of how I responded in the hairy moments of that afternoon; however, I know that I am covered by the Lord's grace and I am forgiven.  I needed to ask for forgiveness because my behavior wasn't appropriate and I would have expected Reagan to ask for forgiveness as well.  I am finding during the difficult moments of parenting how grateful I am for the Lord's grace in my life.  Praise the Lord for the sacrifice Jesus made on my behalf!