Kindergartener Kraziness

So... is it normal for a 5 year old to go nuts during their first year of school? I mean, seriously. Z is AWESOME. But... we have discovered him lying to us the last two weeks (more on that in a min), he's been extra crabby lately, and Saturday he threw the Granddaddy of ALL TANTRUMS. And Z's not a tantrum-throwing kid. I've known him to throw 2 or 3 in his life, and they weren't too bad. But Saturday... well. I just have to say J and I were just shocked. We sat there staring at him in stunned silence. Finally I stood up, looked Z in the eye and said, "You should be ashamed of yourself. You apologize to your Daddy right now and then go back to your room and lay down." He sniffled out an apology and then he was sound asleep within the 2 minutes it took me to regain my composure and go check on him in his room. I know, kids are crabby when they're tired. He usually cries when he's tired or runs around wired like he's on speed. But he has N.E.V.E.R. acted like this before. Sunday he decided to throw his lunch down on the floor in a restaurant and J took him to the potty to "have a chat" with him. They came out and Z was still sniffling and I asked if he got a spanking. "No, just a big boy chat about how some kids don't get to eat out at restaurants and how some don't even get food everyday. He's being wasteful and disrespectful and I'm tired of it." Granted, all weekend, Z was a handful. So since his quesadilla was on the floor, he had to eat ALL of his rice and beans. I don't think he liked them very much, but what Daddy says, goes. So he ate every morsel. There wasn't much, of course, cause it was a kid's portion. My Mom (who takes us to lunch every Sunday. See, Jen, I'm spoiled too. lol) looked at me while J and Z were in the bathroom "chatting" and I said, "I feel so mean!!" She said, "Honey, don't. Kids just need discipline and if you don't give it to him, he'll just act out all the time." So, I felt a teensy bit better. An hour after getting home, Z says, "Jiffer, I'm hungry." So I responded, "Guess you should've eaten your lunch instead of wasting it, huh?" He sniffled, "Yes ma'am." Then I felt like a jerk, so I said he could have a banana and that was it until dinner time, when his Mommy would pick him up. Mommy said Z's been acting up at her house, too, but we just said our goodbyes.
This is a picture I took a year ago at a Chili's. Note the drooly chin on Z. And look... J is clean-shaven!! Woo hoo! He prolly got lots of smooches that day.

** And I got permission from J to post a pic of Z's face on here. **

Then comes Monday. Z decides to not listen to anything Mommy says that morning. She tells him to get dressed and comes back 20 minutes later, to him still in his pjs and flipping channels with the remote. She said he pitched a fit and she got him dressed. He was supposed to clean his room 2 weeks ago, but he won't do it (at her house).

And as mentioned earlier, the last couple of weeks he's been lying to us (Daddy, Mommy, and me) and I busted him yesterday in the middle of it. Yes, I emailed his teacher because I was feeling a little suspicious. So his Mommy and I get to my house at the same time. after work We get him from my neighbor's house and ask him how his day was. I ask where his note was. (They get good or bad notes everyday.) He LIES again and says, "Oh, we aren't getting them anymore." I said, "Really? Because I talked to your teacher today." He pooched out his bottom lip and his eyes welled up. Mommy and I don't buy into the cute-little-me-so-feel-sorry-for-me-pouty-crying-face. "Um, I think I lost it in K's house." (K being our neighbor.) I said, "You need to go back in and find it?" So Mommy tears into him about his lying and I agree with her because it's a zero tolerance policy at our house. Not sure about Mommy's policy, but I know she hates it too. So then J calls and I let him talk to Z. Not sure what was said, but Z keeps crying. I know we sound mean, all ganging up on him... but we like to present a united front. I know a kid in our neighborhood who pits his parents against each other. He uses that to his advantage and that kid is a holy terror. We aren't going to let that happen with Z. So Mommy and I talk for a few minutes and Z sits in her car sniffling.

This morning she texts me saying that she found a stash of uneaten snacks in his backpack and found his "bad note" curled up in his coat pocket. (His school asks that you send a snack everyday for them to eat after naptime. If you don't provide one, the teacher has a few extras. I recently bought a ton of snacks to replenish her dwindling supply.) So he has decided to lie to his teacher and say we don't give him snacks and he's hungry. Again, not a big deal... but all these little lies add up. And like I said, ZERO TOLERANCE. Yes, we're strict. We're so so so mean. I've heard it all before. But when you meet Z, you see how wonderful of a little boy he is. He's very well-adjusted and we have a great relationship. J says we don't need to defend our parenting to anyone because he will raise his child how he sees fit.

So anyway.

Here I am feeling all mean because I removed all the toys from his room, including removing controllers for his playstation, removed all games and movies and disconnected his cable. So he has his bed and pillows to lay on when he's in his room. He comes to our house tonight and J said he will be given extra chores around the house and then he will go to bed. We don't spank often, but when he really deserves it, yes, he gets one. I don't know what the decision will be tonight, for that's J's decision. I just always feel like a jerk for punishing him. :(

SO ON TO OTHER THINGS...

I go to my doctor today (she's family practice, not an OB/GYN) and she's going to measure my belly and see if I'm still measuring a little too big and she's also going to attempt an ultrasound with a really old machine. She's not very experienced with reading u/s, so she said not to expect much. So I'm not. But wouldn't it be cool to find out what I'm having??

Um.. I'm 25 weeks today. In 3 weeks I can call about this study that does free 3D/4D ultrasounds. :) That would be awesome!!

And last night... this is really gross.... I wanted pickle juice. Not just a pickle...but the juice. So I opened the jar and drank HALF the juice in the jar!! How sick is that?!?!! Then I ate a couple little pickles. This morning, I ate a breakfast croissant and then 3 small dill pickles. I could totally drain that pickle juice right now. Ugh. So last night I looked at the jar to figure out what I needed. Dill pickles are high in sodium...that's really about it. I think I get enough sodium...so I dunno. Guess I'm just a freak.