Aidan burned his finger while playing with his dinner.  William stopped laughing long enough to capture the image of Aidan showing us which finger he burned.  LOL!

William and I have never celebrated Valentine’s Day and I’m okay with that.  It’s one of those holidays that I think is over rated (not to mention over priced).  I don’t need a “special” day to show the people I love how much they mean to me and I certainly don’t need a day for people to show me how special I am to them.  So in the five years William and I have been together we never did anything on Valentine’s Day.  Of course that doesn’t stop me from doing something for him like buy him a gift or baking him cookies, but that cause it’s part of my nature and I never expect anything back.  Basically, to me, Valentine is just another day.  But, that all changed this year when I got my first Valentine from Aidan. 

Sure Aidan and I have had three Valentines before this but those occasions don’t count since he wasn’t conscious of the meaning of the day.  This year he had been talking about Valentine’s Day days before the event.  He still doesn’t understand the significance of Valentine’s Day but he knows it is a special day and something worth doing something special for.  My heart has no words to describe all the joy, excitement, and pride I felt when I opened up his school bag and found the card he made for me.  Alright I know he didn’t actually make it.  His teachers probably put it together and he scribbled on it and stuck on some felt hearts.  But he knew that he was doing it for me and that is what makes the card so special.  Btw, if you are curious about how I am sure Aidan knew he was making me the card, Aidan had told William he had made me a card when William asked him what he had done in school that day.  Till that time I had not mentioned the card to either Aidan or William therefore the response was unadulterated.

Aidan’s Valentine card to me

The card got me thinking, I’m probably going to have my first Mother’s Day with Aidan this year as well.  Oh, I’m so looking forward to it!  And then I realized, for the next few years I’m going to celebrate two more first Valentine’s Day and two more first Mother’s Day with Mark and Caitlin respectively.  I’m overjoyed at the prospect.  I know it sounds ridiculous but these are some the moments that make it so rewarding for me to be a mom.

Yesterday I noticed that Aidan had renamed his Internet icon to “aidan.”  The boy can’t even draw a straight line but he can type out his name.  Looks like Aidan is going to learn to type before he learns to write.

Happy 2008; and what a great start I’ve had to the New Year.  I’m so happy I could dance on the roof… at least until William comes home and yells at me for being silly.  The reason for my jubilation – Aidan!

Since his fall from grace I have been asking the teacher if Aidan behaved himself everytime I pick him up from school.  If he has misbehaved then he is grounded from the computer and the T.V. until the next time he behaves in class.  The punishment seems to be working cause Aidan has had fewer and fewer bad days.

Then last Thursday (January 10, 2008) the teacher said to me, “From all of my 60 students, Aidan is the most improved.  I can tell what you have been doing with him at home is working.”  All I can say is YIPPPPEEE!  I left the school beaming and proud of my little boy.

Granted, it would have been great if he started off being one of her best students instead of being the one that needed improvement, but at least he is getting better.  And, that makes me one very proud mom.

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!

This afternoon while snacking on an apple Aidan said something that had me rolling on the floor with laughter…

Aidan:  Mom apple’s green.
Mom:  Yes Aidan, that apple is green.
Aidan:  Mom you’re brown.
Mom:  (Smile) Yes Aidan, I am brown.  What color is daddy?
Aidan:  White.
Mom: (Grin)  Daddy is white.  What color are you?
Aidan:  White.
Mom: (Laugh out loud)  No Aidan you are not white, you are tan.