Mini-Meltdown

I figure this deserved a post in and of itself. I have tried to make time for my son without too many distractions, but sometimes it's just hard to do that. Tonight I talked with three friends on the phone, and I'm not sure how slighted he felt. It always seems that days when he returns from overnights with his father, even 9+ years in the making, are always difficult.

He seems to want me to spend every moment with him. His latest, "What do you want to do Mom?" I thought we could watch the movie Enchanted that came in the mail - but apparently he had seen 3/4 of it at the after school program. So, I watched it by myself and he joined later to watch the end.

He lost a tooth on Tuesday after his dentist and physical appt. His dad didn't notice. He put the tooth under his pillow last night - since he had told me he knows I'm the Tooth Fairy - thinking his dad might "exchange" the tooth. He looked five times and the tooth was there each time. He brought the tooth home tonight and laughed as he put it under his pillow in front of me. Of course, he will get something! ;) Quickly his laughing turned into silent tears. I thought it was because he laughed too hard...I was wrong.

He was sobbing uncontrollably minutes later after I tucked him in. I went to talk to him and he told me about something that happened at school today. Good thing for P/T conferences! Seriously, if it happened the way he said, I will be very disappointed with the teacher...apparently the teacher asked the class how many children have never gone out to dinner alone with their parents. NICE. Can I say that again? NICE. Then to make matters worse, she apparently singled out my son and said that she knew his parents weren't together. He said he wanted to cry when the question first was asked and then harder when she talked to him IN FRONT of the class. NICE. He said that he didn't.

I HATE THAT. I hate that I can't fix that for him. I hate that I can't take his pain away. I reinforced that his parents love him very much and that he is lucky in that both of his parents spend time with him and take him out to dinner, despite that we aren't together. Yeah, what a consolation prize.

Bottomline...there has to be more going on with my son right now. I know that he's jealous of his brother. I know that he's jealous of his dad's affection and attention towards his brother. I also know that he's jealous of my trip and heartbroken that I'm leaving him behind. After the trip, I'll try to assess the situation better. In a perfect world parents would have time for their children and make them feel special and loved and give them the attention and affection they need. In a perfect world a mother's love could make that happen. In a perfect world...