Most of the maternal blogs I have read seem to portray their kids as being perfect. Sure they may have a few glitches here and there, but for the most part they seem to be the “perfect” child. Reading such sites often make me wonder “What the heck is wrong with my child?”

For the past couple of months Aidan has been going through this stage (at least I hope its a stage) where he has to defy everything you ask him to do. For example, ask him to be quiet and he raises his voice, tell him to do something and the first word out if his mouth is “no” or “can’t.” I thought his behavior was reserved only for the home but I was sadly mistaken.

Within the second week of starting school I found out that he does it over there too. It has gotten so bad that Aidan actually has the teaching assistant assigned to work just with him. This way the teacher can carry on with her lesson and Aidan won’t disrupt the class with his antics. It is heart breaking to think that my son’s behavior almost makes him equivalent to a special needs student. I often wonder if the teacher looks at him every morning he comes in and thinks to herself, “Oh no, not him again. Why couldn’t he have called in sick?”

The final blow to my motherly pride came last week when I went to pick Aidan up from school. His class had put together an impromptu chorus. There were his classmates lined up perfectly along the back wall singing to a room filled with all but one glowing parent. You see, Aidan was not a part of the the chorus line. Instead he was seated, next to the chorus line, on the lap of the teaching assistant who looked like she was holding him down. He had absolutely no interest in what his class was doing.

Later I found out that Aidan had been more than a handful that day. He was screaming, disobedient, and defiant. The teacher was not happy to say the least. Recalling the incident still makes me feel like crying. What happened to my baby boy, my pride and joy, my trophy baby? Where and when did it all go wrong?

*SIGH* Now what?

Aidan has since been grounded for the week. No computer and no T.V. The ban was lifted this week because the teaching assistant said he was much better in class on Tuesday, especially considering the teacher was out for the day and they had a substitute. I’m not sure what she meant by “much better.” Either he misbehaved or he didn’t. So I asked her if she thought it would be okay for Aidan to play on the computer again. She said yes and Aidan jumped straight onto the computer chair when we got home.

We’ll see how he behaves on Thursday. If I hear that he misbehaved even once, then the grounding is going back into effect. I’m hoping that eventually the grounding will break his defiant streak, at least in school. Only time will tell.

My mother-in-law believes Aidan’s defiance stems from the fact that he is really smart. Sure, I’ll go with that… in fact, I’d love to believe that. Yes, Aidan is really smart, but he is not smart enough to know how to behave in school. It is something that could hurt him when he gets older. No teacher wants to have a challenging, misbehaving student in their classroom no matter how smart he may be.

So there, I’ve said it. My kid is not perfect. In fact he is far from it. But, he is my son and I love him. And, I hope with the right direction and encouragement William and I can steer him on the path to becoming a model citizen. I hope!