More Kid Trouble and the Productive "Living" Day

Wednesday's bus incident wasn't the end of the trouble. Thursday afternoon the children get off the bus looking down in the dumps. I asked what was with the long faces and 10 y/o said a 5 year old preschooler hit him and 6 y/o for "no reason"- punched him in the stomach and her in the chest. She corrected him and said the kid hit her in the jaw. I checked her jaw and sure enough, it was a bit splotchy and she had a few tiny capillaries busted on the surface. Not that noticeable, but still major reason for concern.

So I asked what they were doing and so forth. I finally get out of 10 y/o that the bus driver seated the little boy with them because there wasn't anywhere else for him to sit and they were playing a shapes game and 10 y/o was ARGUING back and forth with the 5 y/o about one of the shapes. Then the 5 y/o swung at him "for no reason." My daughter, who can sometimes be far too honest for her own good, tells me that the boy punched her brother and then swung at him again, but hit her in the face instead. (seated behind bus driver I'm assuming 5 y/o was next to the window, 10 y/o center of the seat and 6 y/o next to the aisle cause she got hit on the left side of her face and 10 y/o said he would let her sit next to the window from now on.)

I asked whether they told the bus driver and 10 y/o says yes, but that the driver didn't do anything about even though 6 y/o was crying after being punched. I was furious. When 10 y/o explained how he "ducked" back, I understood how 6 y/o got hit. He darted out of the way of the other kid and put his sister right in the path of the kid's rage. Had to have to talk with him AGAIN about arguing with kids younger than him and that he should have just let it go. He said he was about to when the kid hit him and my daughter. I told him there's no arguing with a 5 y/o- they think they know everything, just like a 10 y/o who gets a hold of something like a dog with a bone and doesn't want to let it go. I've seen him in action...he'll argue something till he's blue in the face, even if it's over something trivial.

I told him that he's got to learn to control himself and let stuff go because it's his job to protect his sister and stay out of trouble, not drag her into the crossfire when she didn't have a dog in the fight and yet she got HIT in the FACE because he wouldn't drop the argument before he pushed the little kid to the point of anger. Hubby and I sided on the fact that 10 y/o brought it on himself and his sister. He's working his way toward losing things he wants to do- like going to camp this summer and keeping his video games, etc.

I had asked him the day before if there was anything bothering him or on his mind...here, at his mom's, at school, but he said no. Friday afternoon, I went through his backpack for graded papers and any notes or letters from school and found the letter for the Valentine's party for this coming week and at the top, the teacher had written that he was 2 marks away from NOT getting to attend the Valentine's party. Apparently there is something going on at school too, but he's not mentioned it to us and he was already gone to his mom's before I discovered this. I sent his teacher an email and hoping to hear from her tomorrow about whether he's acting out at school as well as on the bus. The joys of being a parent! LOL

So...since Wednesday I haven't done any revisions because I've had so much else on my plate to think about.

The bright spot was spending yesterday with my husband. It had been a long time since he and I had a day out, just the two of us. Stepson was gone to his mother's and daughter was at grandma's, so we spent the day together, away from the house.

After dropping off daughter at the grandparents' we headed out and went to Wal-Mart for some shopping. I did get myself a new Kodak EasyShare digital camera with money I'd received for my birthday from family.

It's a C813 with 8.2 megapixels (my last one was a 2.0). It's also a pretty metallic pink and it's so tiny. LOL I got it, a 4GB memory card and a rechargable battery charger with 4 batteries. It doesn't have a optical viewing window so you have to use the LCD screen everytime you take pics, but I guess I can get used to it. It has more options than my prior camera. I'd had that one for 5 years though and it was good while it lasted. This one I can set to take pictures in black and white or sepia, so that's pretty cool. I know I'm going to have lots of fun taking pics with it.

I also stocked all of us up on socks and got the kids their cards for the Valentine's parties at school and got the teachers a small box of chocolates. We got the kids a little something for Valentine's Day from us. I'll probably print up cards from us sometime this week and set them out on the table Friday morning before they go to school since my stepson will be gone to his mom's on Saturday.

After the shopping we went to the theater and watched "New In Town." I think hubby might have been 1 of 3 men in the theater watching it! LOL It's the movie with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr. and I know the movie wasn't well received by critics, but it was my kind of romantic comedy. It was funny and I really enjoyed it. (I think hubby did too, though I know he wouldn't admit it. His brother called last night and he was telling him about taking me to see it and I heard him say, "It was all right." LOL Heaven forbid he enjoy a chick flick! haha!

We did see the preview for another movie I think might be right up my alley. Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner in "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhNjOXTlehk

It's one I will definitely be looking forward to. A womanizer learns the error of his ways in relationships with the help of the ghosts of girlfriends past, present and future- a la Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. I loved the part where the Ghost of Girlfriends Past shows him his ex-girlfriends and it's this huge hallway jammed full of women who rat off how long they dated him... 2 days, an hour, 48 seconds. LOL (The preview itself brought me to tears, so I have a feeling I'm really going to enjoy it.)

After the movie, we went and got our taxes filed and then picked up little bit. While we were gone, her and Grandma baked me a birthday cake (because hubby didn't get me one and I had made my own cupcakes! LOL She said I shouldn't have had to do that!)

All in all it was a great day and today I'm going to get the laundry and dishes out of the way, and just chill out. Tomorrow it's back to work- unless I find a way to fit in some work today on revisions. :D Have a wonderful Sunday and enjoy this weather!