Earth and sky your cradle, earth and sky consume you

So...

Went to a birthday party for Kattie yesterday at Tulse Gym in Twinsburg.  I was under the impression that it was at a "little gym" style gym, you know, where little kids can play around and not worry about dying every two minutes (or less in our case).  Um...no, it's a real gymnastics gym.  With the uneven bars and lots of trampolines and a huge half circle whole in the ground 4 feet deep with a bar of doom.  All of those things. 

So, Asher was the only little one there, all the other kids were between 5-8 years old.  No one wanted to play with Asher, not even Katya.  He really wanted to play.  They wouldn't let him do anything with the parachute (other than just hold onto the handle).  Then they kids started doing trampoline stuff and Asher's 2.2 tantrums a minute began. (Sorry if my typing or grammar sucks today, someone turned the heat in my office off and it's currently 34 degrees in here.  Fuuuuu.....)  I mean, I understand, he really wanted to play and play with the big kids.  But...

So, one of the ladies let him swim in a big pit of foam blocks for a while and that was good but it wasn't enough.  And after about 35 minutes and 500 tantrums later, it happened.  The moment. 

Let me preface this with the fact that Ry decided he had to be at a fight party during the middle of this.  I guess this goes to show I am incapable of handling my child at children's parties by myself because he was fine at the last one he took asher to.  Mind you, it was at a jump house of inflatables so it was a little different but not different enough.  Anyway, he leaves and I have no support.  Rosie and Richie are there but...well...yea.

Anyway, at almost 40 minutes in, everything I do isn't good enough and Asher is melting down like a popsicle on hot pavement and he finally snaps. He was trying to run to other children as they trampolined into the air and into the foam block pit.  They wanted nothing to do with him and were ignoring him.  I could just see him taking a front kick to the head.  So I grab him and pull him back.  And he bites me, hard enough through my sweatshirt to leave a mark in my skin for a half hour afterwards. 

I am done.  I'm stressed out, frustrated, upset.  All of the kids parents are watching this whole horror show that asher and I are starring in, and I grab asher up, swing him over my shoulder and drag him kicking and screaming, telling him we don't bite and since we did we are going home.  Did I mention half the people there are related to Ryan? Joy.  So I hand him off to Rosie and she gives me "the look", you know the one, it's specially reserved for mother in laws to give to their daughter in laws when they don't approve.  She holds him down while I put on his shoes and coat.  He is crying and saying 'sorry, sorry, kattie, sorry, blocks' over and over making me feel even more like shit but I'm upset and I'm not going to spank him (like my mom said I should have) so I need to discipline him some way, so we leave.  Like, you bite people and now you have to leave the (not so) fun place.

Outside katya's grandmom comes out, a sweet little russian lady, and lectures me on not to be mad at him and just calm down and relax and so forth and so on.  I just want to leave at t his point.  I'm feeling humiliated and ashamed alone and asher is freaking out and  I just want to get home.  I'm on the verge of tears (I didn't cry though, bully for me). 

Finally we get home and I give Asher a popsicle and we watch yo gabba and things are okay.  Until it's time to put on Jammies.  Apparently we have entered the terrible twos.

Thanks to Ann for all the support last night.  It was much needed.

I had wanted to write about how awesome Rachel's birthday was but this was fresh and upsetting and kind of took over.  I'll try to write about it tomorrow.  Cause it was pretty awesome.