Timmy's No Good, Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day

We've all been there at some point in time.  Just minding our own business when a little hellion of a child interrupts the tranquility with a whirlwind of commotion and destruction. Running through a store, throwing objects, or perhaps spitting are all triggers for most to leap to judgment. I understand that it is hard not to judge both the child for the conduct and the parents for raising such an unruly spawn. I know that I am guilty of having those thoughts when I have encountered a destructive child in public.

Unfortunately for me and for everybody we encountered, yesterday the hellion was mine. Timmy did not react well to his Daddy and brother returning to school. Between the change in our schedule and the shots that he received for his autoimmune disorder, he spent most of his day on a rampage of destruction. After spending the majority of my morning chasing him down, pulling him off of the counter tops and off of the tables and out of the refrigerator, I thought that perhaps he would calm down if he went to his favorite play area.  

To say that my decision to take him into public would be an understatement of monumental proportions. As soon as we entered the playground, he took off on a mission.  He reminded me of the Tasmanian Devil from the Looney Tunes cartoon. A tornado of mischief and destruction swirled around him, and he seemed to be oblivious to my behavior corrections. 

First he threw the fabric donuts into the air and used the toy rolling pin as a baseball bat, hitting the soft little toys throughout the play area.  He escaped my clutches and ran directly to the air tubes, where he promptly stuffed the rolling pin into the cloth only activity. I was able to redirect Timmy by encouraging him to bounce in the moon bounce. While he was busy hopping with other kids I worked on unclogging the tubes. 

I should not have turned my back. Apparently Timmy the Terrible took the opportunity to carry and spit out copious amounts of water from the fountain into the base of the moon bounce slide. I was horrified when the soggy kids ran out of the enclosure.  I made him sit on the ground while I cleaned up the liquid and then we promptly left the playground. Humiliated as I took my walk of shame, I carried a squawking kid out to the car without making eye contact. 

I would like to say that leaving the playground prematurely made an impact, but that would be a lie. His ill-behavior continued throughout the evening. He threw his bucket of trains down the stairs, ran from me while unspooling a new roll of toilet paper and stuffed a stick of butter down his pants. Soon after he threw a handful of spaghetti onto the cat, Scott and I decided it was time to throw in the towel and put him to bed.  

No matter what I did yesterday, Timmy was uncontrollable. While I know that much of his behavior was a reaction to his medication, it by no means makes his chaos acceptable. Hopefully today he will return to being my sweet little boy because I'm not sure that the house can survive another day with Timmy the Terrible on the loose.