Mean Mommy

Alex missed his nap yesterday so he was more cranky then usual, but when he started to throw a temper tantrum because I put the honey on one side of his cornbread rather then the other, I was done. Usually when dinner time tantrums come up, we send him to his room to finish it out. He cries and screams in his room for 5 to 10 minutes and then decides it's not worth it, says sorry, and joins the rest of us for dinner. Yesterday he decided to scream and fight for over an hour. It was very obviously a control issue. He wanted to control the situation and have it his way. He screamed until we were all done with dinner, then he screamed while I gave Annie a bath, and then he screamed some more. With the next day being church, he needed a bath too, so I pulled him out of his room, and gave him a bath. He finally calmed down and got his PJ's on and then asked for dinner. Well, the rule in this house is you eat dinner with everyone or you don't have to eat. This is really the first time I've had that rule challenged. In the end I sent him to bed without dinner. I felt like a terrible mother, but I didn't want him to think he could act like that and still get dinner. It sat on my mind all night. What kind of mom actually sends her kid to bed hungry? I cuddled him and loved him and read him a story so he knew he was no longer in trouble and mommy loved him, but still. Trying to go to sleep myself, I decided I'd get up a little earlier and even though we have 8:00 church, I would make a big breakfast just for him.
Well, I got up early and made bacon and eggs. I served him breakfast, certain he would gobble it up after being starved. But no, he looked at me and complained he didn't want eggs. He wanted German Pancakes, and just meat (bacon). I couldn't believe it! I worried all night and this kid still wasn't hungry enough to eat. Shaun added a load of ketchup to his eggs and he ended up eating it. But if a next time comes that I need to put my foot down with this kid, I'm not going to be quite so worried about him starving.