5 years

I have found 5 yr. olds to be very affectionate. One of my
sons would ask me to marry them when they grow up. "I love you,
mommy."
"I love you too, honey." 5 min. later "I love you,
mommy."
"I love you too, honey." So it goes all day until I am saying I love you
through clenched teeth and feeling as though I really just
want to choke the life out of them, all out of love of
course.
Children can be very insecure, They don't want to be left behind
with a sitter. They will cling to your legs and go into
theatrics and try to make you feel guilty. "Mommy, please
don't leave me. Let me go with you. I promise I won't call daddy a poo-poo
face anymore. Please, I promise I'll be good and quiet. I promise I won't breathe."
I’d look at my young sons purple face and see he is trying real
hard to keep his promise. How can I say no? "Okay, you can go
but you have to keep your promise not to breathe." So we’d
head to the car, my son skipping, holding his breath and
feeling like all is right with the world. I’d wonder just how
long he can really hold his breath?
I loved seeing my children learning to ride their bikes. It
is good seeing them sailing down the road looking so grown up
and independent on their Huffy. Then when they seemed to have
mastered the fine art of riding, I’d see arms and legs flailing
and the once proud metal steed would be sailing off into the sunset.
I’d run over to check on my child, crowds are forming and you know the
child is really okay until they see you coming then comes the drama.
"Mom, is that really you? Come closer, it's getting dark and cold.
I'm failing fast. Bring your face closer so that I may gaze upon
your beauty one last time. Tell dad I love him and I don't want you to
blame yourself for not buying me a safer bike like the one that I wanted.
I know your happiness is more important, this accident was not your fault.
Many of you have experienced sibling rivalry either personally or
through your kids. This is where you are either ‘good parent or bad
parent’ but you are definitely referee. I’d be trying to break up a
fight when I would be the one to get hurt. That would usually case some anger from the one that felt I was on their side. This in itself would start another fight and the blaming would start on who hurt mom. I have often heard that banging heads together usually puts an end to fighting but can cause brain damage if done to often. Sometimes a mom has to do what a mom has to do, so weighing the options and considering all the avenues, I figured I could deal with the brain damage at a later date.
Starting school can be exciting and traumatic. Exciting for you but traumatic for the teachers.