The ol' mean mug

Justin's special weekend alone with his parents is coming to an end. And he has gone out with a bang. Leo has spent all weekend with my parents for his special individual time with them which has left me and Justin to spend some great quality time together during the days and time with Jeremy the last two evenings. For the most part it has been a blast!

Not so much this morning. Justin was great for about the first 10 minutes of church. It was all downhill after the second reading. I was trying hard to pay attention to the Gospel and Homily but apparently that is not ok with Justin. He has been getting his fair share of attention this weekend and Heaven forbid that I try and pay attention to anyone else. So after several pouty looks and sassy gestures, I took him out to the back lobby for a quick "discussion" and reminder that behavior such as this might just result in the loss of time with his brand new build-a-bear. And this brought on the tears and a VERY grouchy "I'M SORRY." I'm pretty sure he wasn't.

So as we make it back to our pew, he puts on a HUGE show of pouting. Arms crossed. Trying to look up at me from his scowl to make sure I am noticing how horribly upset he is about being scolded at church. Lots of heavy sighing for effect. HUMFFFF.

And then it was time for his (usual) favorite part of mass: taking money up to the collection basket. I asked him if he wanted to take his dollar up and he barely nods his head yes. I gave him a dollar and directed him to the aisle....where he proceeded to shuffle slowly towards the front (we were about 12 aisles back) with his head hanging as low as possible without actually bending over. It was pathetic! Kids were making it up to the basket and back past him in the time it took him to slowly shuffle to the front. Oh, woe is Justin!!!

And I....well, I got the giggles about it. Yup, the kind where I can't keep it in and the more I watch him pout his way up to the collection basket the harder I laughed. It's not as if he could see me laughing even on his way back, because his eyes never came off the floor except for once when a child ran into him. But even then he just put his sad little chin back on his chest, heaved a deep sigh, and kept on shuffling his way back to me.

So when he got back to our pew, he climbed onto my lap and pretty much stayed there for the next 15 or so minutes. When I stood, he had to be held. When I kneeled, he had to be held. This poor, poor, sad little 3 year old.

And then he went from sad little pouty boy to an angry child. Enter: the ol' mean mug. This kid has a look that could kill. He can furrow his eyebrows, purse his lips, tilt his chin down just so, clench his fists, and then look up with an icy stare. I actually stared him down for a few moments, but felt that maybe, just maybe, that wasn't appropriate in church.

He maintained this look for the remainder of church. Thankfully he was never outwardly hateful or loud. Just consistently mean mugging me at every opportunity. I'm sure the folks behind us were getting quite a show. I'm proud to say that I never once lost my cool with him...probably because I was spending all of my mental energy silently writing this blog in my head :)

The only bright spot came right at the end of church when he asked quietly through clenched teeth to stay and hear the rest of the closing song. Now THAT actually brought a little tear to my eye. Through all of his frustration and anger, he wanted to stay and hear the music through to the end. NICE recovery, son!

I hope that Leo had a better morning in church...