another brilliant idea backfired

it all started pretty routinely. i was getting hayden ready for bed. he gets his asthma inhaler, and is supposed to rinse his mouth out with water and then brush his teeth. but he takes the water cup and instead of rinsing his mouth with it...decides to pour the water all over me. i get angry. i yell. (i know....bad. but cant help it.) so i clean up the water, which is all over the place, and hang my pants to dry off. i put him to bed. the next morning, we go thru the same routine. only this time....he sips the water...and decides to spit it all over me. ergh. my patience is already dwindling. he thinks its hysterical. the more he laughs...the more pissed off i get. but i clean all the water up, and we get dressed.

i tell my mom the story. she says, "did you have him clean up his mess?" (hmm....no. i didnt think about that.) "well...you should make him clean up the mess he makes." point noted. later on...i tell dan the story. he says, "you should take the water and spill it all over him. see how much he likes it". well...this one im not so sure about. i generally dont believe its the best idea to teach a kid not to do something, by doing it to him. example...how do you teach a child its not ok to hit, by hitting him? so i tell him i dont know about that idea, but ok... point noted.

ok...so later that night he does the same thing again and laughs. (i know...i deserve this one. i was wrong to give him the benefit of the doubt.) so i get really frustrated and i take the water cup and throw water all over him. and he laughs! so i get more pissed off and throw more water on him...this time on his head! and hes just laughing and laughing. the floor, step stool with the puzzle pieces, bath rugs and counter is soaking wet. then i say..."now you have to clean up this mess!" he excitedly gets the towel, and says, "ok mom!" and proceeds to wipe things all over and thinks its soooo much fun. "look mom...now im cleaning the sink. and now im gonna clean the floor." the more he "cleans", the messier it gets. the water is just pouring more on to the floor. so i tell him ill finish the rest. but no! hes having so much fun cleaning! "i just have one more spot left mommie. im gonna get this spot first." i finally get him out of the bathroom. im soaking wet. im annoyed. im on my hands and knees wiping up what seems to be gallons of water. im sweating. i feel like cinderella. (pre-ball). then i have to clean him up. change his pajamas, and calm him down for bed. i just added on an extra half an hour of bedtime "duties."

keep in mind....my kid doesnt go to sleep easily or early. it takes a lot of time to get him ready for bed. and by the end of the day...im exhausted. im lucky if hes sleeping by 10 pm. so this just puts me over the edge. my trying to teach him a lesson totally backfired, and just caused me more work and frustration.

thanx for the advice mom! thanx for the advice dan!
brilliant.