Tonight, it was the boy's turn

So, the bedtime battle tonight was with my son. When it comes to bedtime struggles, he is not usually the one who gives me a hard time. He and I have our own issues but bedtime is not one of them. This afternoon the little boy who gets off the bus with my daughter came over and stayed for dinner. Around 7:30 I could tell it had been too long. (I guess I should follow the advice on the We are THAT family blog, leave when you are having fun.) I gave them all dessert and we took the friend home. Getting in the van was an issue, the girl blocked the boy, he got mad and hit her. Then, he tried to hit me, twice. When he does that to me he doesn't hit me like he hits her. He just sort of taps me or swings, just to see what I will do. After we got back home he kept going. We headed to the bathroom to brush teeth. He swung again and again. So, I started walking him to his room. Naturally, he stopped walking so I would have to pull him. He got up to walk down the steps and swung at me, again. That pushed me over the edge. I held him by the shoulders and said in a mean mommy voice, "You do not hit me." I held him by both hands and drug him to his room and left him there. It worked, he got his reaction. All in all, I know the way I reacted wasn't that bad. It could have been much worse. Still, I expect more from myself. I need to keep it under control. Bedtime with the girl was great. (They tend to do that, when one really sets me off, the other is super good.) Next time, I'm going to try giving him a hug. Even if it doesn't work I'll feel much better at least trying that.