Shifting Mood

[note: the previous post: 'phoot!' was written earlier today when I was in a fairly good mood... ah, the good ol' days]

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada. We get it out of the way early so as to enjoy the nice weather. I'm pretty sure my comprades in Ontario can relate to decent weather right now, but today was a gorgeous day. Plenty to be thankful for.

But if I could have late-this-afternoon back, I'd be plenty more thankful.

After our Thanksgiving meal at the in-laws, my wife was taking our son to get his picture taken. My daughter was going along to help encourage the boy and I... well, I was looking forward to some time away from the children I've been taking care of since I finished school. Not to be, as my wife was quite insistent I come along.

Just for the record, my son has not had a studio picture taken in over 18 months. He likes to cry whenever we try it, so most previous attempts have failed... miserably.

Today was no different. He was a great kid, staying awake the entire trip there and waiting quite patiently to go into the studio. Once we were ready for him to sit on the rug for his portrait, 'Mr. Hyde' arrived and the next 40 minutes was a gruelling attempt to get him to either sit or stand for one bleedin' picture. Nothing doing.

He cried and whined and crawled around to hide. He'd do anything except stay still long enough for the photographer to take his picture.

So, we decided to go... obviously he wanted nothing to do with getting his picture taken, right?

Wrong, apparently. His minor hissy fit in the studio turned into a full blown one as we tried to leave. Like, seriously, I was waiting for someone to call the police because we were attempting to abduct our own child. If not for the little girl next to us rolling her eyes at how annoying her brother was, we'd probably be in jail by now...

It got worse the closer to the car we walked. And, of course, the "closest" parking spot was about 6 from the end of the lot and 40+ spots away from the store. Every step we had to drag him kicking and screaming. Every step. Now picture a screaming child stretching his legs to stop anyone from putting him in a childseat. And he's still screaming, only now he's added "I'm scared! I'm scared!" to the screams. I really don't know how we didn't end up in jail. So, a 20-minute Hellish drive later and I drop the family off at home. I need 3 things: time alone, quiet space, and a tank of gas in my car.

So, was it really bad day? Yes.

And the lady who drove into my car right next to the gas station didn't help matters either.

My head's about to pop.