You're Not My Mother Anymore

Gabe has been in a mood all day today. He's been complaining about being tired all day and, when we hit the evening, it went down hill from there. Everything I said or did was cause for argument from him. He got pissed when I told him it was too close to dinner for a snack. And, after dinner we were hanging out and watching tv. A little after 7:15, I told him that when Jeopardy was over it would be time for his bath. I should have known it was a mistake to tell him that ahead of time with the mood he was in. Gabe asked how much time was left and, when I didn't answer in the 2.3 microseconds he allowed, he grabbed the remote and started pushing buttons so he could see how much time was left in the show. Well, because he was pissed, he hit too many buttons and almost erased a show.

Me: Gabe, Gabe, give me the remote.
Gabe: ignoring me
Me: Gabe, no, stop pushing the button and GIVE ME THE REMOTE.
Gabe: sullenly hands over the remote
Me: rescues the show and puts the remote on my chair
Gabe: Give me the remote. I want the remote back.
Me: No, I'm just going to leave it he.....
Gabe: But I WANT it back...
Me: No, we aren't goin....
Gabe: LISTEN TO ME.
Me: I am listening to you. I'm just not agre...
Gabe: LISTEN TO ME
Me: I am listening to you. I'm just not agreeing with you.
Gabe: increasingly irritable NO...
Me: I do not like how you are behaving.
Gabe: Hmmmph...you're not my mother anymore.
Me: Half laugh Okay
Gabe: almost crying But I want you to be my mother. I want to be your boy.
Me: You will always be my boy and I will always be your mother.
Gabe: sniffling I love you
Me: I love you too but I do not like how you are acting.

After this fiasco, which took all of a couple of minutes, Gabe went back to being cheerful, promptly forgot about the bath, and went off to the den with Joey. I told him I would call him as soon as his bath was ready. Gabe came bounding in a few minutes later, was having fun, and was being generally goofy in the bath. That didn't last. I was told twice more that I'm not his mother anymore. While Gabe is like any five year old, this behavior is totally unlike him. Sure he can be argumentative when he is tired but nothing like this. After I got him changed into his pajamas, he decided that he was still hungry despite having eaten a complete dinner. Ah ha I thought, maybe that's the problem. Well, I was wrong because bedtime was a case of lather, rinse, repeat...same crankassed behavior, same *"not the mama" talk. and, all of a sudden, the lightbulb went off. See, yesterday was the last day of preschool and Gabe LOVED preschool.

Me: Gabe, are you sad because school is over.
Gabe: sniffle sniffle Yeah
Me: heart melting a little Oh honey, we have all your friends' phone numbers. We can stay in touch. We'll see them over the summer. In fact, we are going to see Travis next week. You'd like that, wouldn't you?
Gabe: in a pitiful voice Yeah
Me: We're going to have a great summer. We'll play, go to the pool, see your friends. And, you know whats really cool when we get to next school year?
Gabe: What?
Me: You'll get to go to Joey's school and you'll get to make a lot of new friends.
Gabe: in a pitiful, tiny, kind of sad voice But will I get to keep all my old friends?
Me: Oh honey, of course you will. You'll just have more new friends.

So, I guess I've been restored to mother status and all is at least stable in the world of Gabe.


*100 geek points to whoever recognizes that phrase