Can we say attitude

Tyler is 12, almost 12 1/2 which officially makes him a "pre-teen", and the attitude that boy has had lately does not make me look forward to the teenage years!

I should preface this by saying that when Tyler is with other people he is a very nice young man. In fact, I was working the City Wide clean up last weekend and one of his teachers made it a point to tell me how much he enjoyed having Tyler in his class. In our schools, they use steps for discipline. You start with one step, which is basically just a warning for everything from talking in class to forgetting to have your planner signed, and it goes up to steps 5 or 6 which lead to detention, suspension, etc. Last year, the only step Tyler had all year was given to him on the first day of school by a teacher who wanted to set a precedent because some of Tyler's friends had been talking in class. This year, his only step was from forgetting to have a math test signed. So, really, I'm not exaggerating when I say he can be a nice boy.

Maybe that is why he can be so irritating with us, maybe that's how he's able to be so nice in school. Yesterday, on our way home (maybe not "on the way" but in the general area) we decided to go to the outlet mall because both the boys think they want to buy themselves a leather coat, and I had told them I would buy them an outfit at Old Navy. (I kind of wanted to stop at Liz Claiborne, too, but the babies had had enough by then)

Wilson's Leather didn't have any coats their size, so that was a bust, but we did still make it to Old Navy. In addition to the shorts & shirt each of the boys picked out, I also got them each a pair of jean's that were on clearance for only $8, and Tyler also got some flip flops since he didn't have any yet, this year.

From there we went for lunch. I had mentioned the other night that I thought we'd been eating out a little too often, and not at very healthy places, so we decided to go to Subway since we still had about an hours drive home, and waiting to eat there wasn't an option. Tyler had said he wanted McDonalds, and so when we pulled into Subway, he started pouting. First, he claimed he didn't like Subway anymore (like his taste buds changed within the last month), then it was that they didn't fill him up (they had $5 foot longs, and if he would get anything more than meat & cheese on his sandwich, it might be more filling!) I was pretty tired of his sulking by the time we were done, so I decided to eat the cookie I had gotten for him because I'm mature like that, and because I like their cookies. (He didn't even know I had gotten the cookies, so it was not as mean as it sounds, it just made me feel better.)

On our way home, we had mentioned to him that maybe he should see if he could mow our neighbors lawn. He's older and his health has not been real great, lately. But Tyler had a million excuses why he didn't want to do that. He plopped himself on the couch, and other than trying on his new clothes, he didn't do much else. Chris made a list of chores that needed to get done, but he didn't do those because, "Cameron took all of the easy ones".

Chris made steaks for dinner, and because as I may have mentioned before, our boys are kind of picky eaters, they "don't like steak", although I really don't know the last time they tried it. Since Cameron had done several chores and had not complained at all during the day, Chris gave him a "free pass" for dinner, letting him just eat chips & cheese and not losing his TV. Tyler also didn't eat the steak, but he couldn't understand why Cameron got a free pass and he didn't. He said if he would have known that would happen, he would have had a better day. We tried to explain to him again why Cameron was let off the hook, but with Tyler, once he decides that something is unfair, he refuses to listen to any explanation. (I did even try to explain that that's why you should just be nice & helpful all the time, because you just never know when there will be a reward, but he wasn't listening to that either.)

After having to hear him whine for at least 10 minutes, he was told to pick up the living room. He said, "why, I didn't even do anything." I said, "that's exactly why you have to, because you haven't done any thing at all today." He really is a pretty smart boy (at least book smart) which is why I don't get why he cannot understand simple English!!

P.S. Mom, wipe that smile off your face - I thought you were more mature than to want me to have a child that acts like I did at his age!