Well that sucked.

Alex came home last night. I met up with his aunt and uncle at a store they needed to go to so they didn't have to take on all of the driving burden involved in getting my child back to me. And it was awesome. I heard him talking to his aunt from a couple aisles over, and then I came around the corner and saw him. He immediately lit up like a roman candle, yelled MAMA!, and came running to me. And...he didn't want to go back to his aunt. Which was not the case last time they had him. Last time he wouldn't leave her side and didn't want to come to me. He's lucky he changed his ways.

So we transferred the 18 tons of stuff I sent with him for his trip into my car, gave kisses and waved good-bye. And everything was great. For like 5 minutes. Then all of sudden the sun was too bright. And he couldn't see any motorcycles. And he didn't want to see Travis or the dog. And then he didn't want to get out of the car. But he didn't want to stay in it either. Awesome.

I finally got him out of the car and low and behold he was happy to see both Travis and Aiden. So I foolishly thought things were going to be great for the rest of the night. And then he hit me. In the head. So within 15 minutes of being home, he was in his room screaming his way through a time out.

The next two hours carried on in much the same fashion. Fits inside, pretending to wipe out on his bike outside, hitting me, being straight up rude. We handled each incident appropriately, until I couldn't take it anymore and went in the house to cry a little.

It was awful. I was so excited to see him and to have him back home. So excited to play and laugh and snuggle and learn new stuff. And all he wanted to do was be a big jerk. So the totally rational part of me took over and I decided this 2 hour stint was proof that we are not good parents and he is clearly happier with someone else. See? Totally rational. It was just such a shitty feeling to have my excitement quite literally slapped right out of me. Pretty sure crying within 2 hours of having your kid back is some sort of world record.

I was able to get myself back to reality and understand that we all need a little time to readjust to normal life. For four days, he had the undivided attention of 5 people...and we had a taste of our sweet long lost freedom. Not normal living for any of us. With a little extra patience, some solo play time, and a splash of tv, the rest of the night went pretty well. We read a lot of books before bed time and after a quick rendition of "Me & Bobby McGee," Alex was in bed and asleep.

This morning was so much better. He woke up happy and ready to start the day. There was still a hint of last nights debauchery seeping in here and there, but all in all it was good. Good thing...'cause whether we like it or not, we are all stuck with each other...in one little most of the time happy, some of the time well functioning family.