Impulse Control

If you've seen my posts on Facebook, you probably know that Korban has this stuffed Tigger that he is very attached to.  Tigger has been all sorts of interesting places: swimming at the beach (and in the toilet, and after that, the washer).  He  also "bounced" up and stuck in the kitchen chandelier.  So today I was playing outside with the kids after Korban got home from school.  There is a great trail in the back of our house that leads up into the woods and we love to walk it. The soil on it is really sandy and Selah loves to dig in it.  She's my nature girl.  She also likes to pick up different colored leaves and pretty rocks and caterpillars.  Korban likes to push his toy lawnmower on it or pull his wagon.  I got some great snapshots of Korban pulling Selah in the wagon last week.  It's very funny--the trail is uphill on the way and downhill on the way back.  So Korban has decided that Selah can only ride on the way back.  Less weight to pull uphill that way.  Smart boy.  And on the downhill, they go really fast.  Korban runs but it's more like he's trying to outrun the wagon rather than run with the wagon.  I keep having a mental image of the wagon building up speed and running over him, leaving him flat on the trail with tire treads on his back.  But that hasn't happened yet and they are having a lot of fun with it.  But back to Tigger.  This morning Tigger rode to school in the van with us.  He doesn't go into school with Korban, he just waits in the van for him.  Korban was distressed this morning because he didn't have a "hat" for Tigger.  He loves for his stuffed animals to wear hats and his definition of a hat is pretty amusing.  He likes for them to wear stickers and socks.  Brad's mom finally took pity on us having to tote around so many stuffed animals with socks tucked on their heads and knitted Korban several little toboggans for his animals.  But this morning he wanted Tigger to have a sticker hat.  Specifically, a "circle sticker."  So I told him I would have one waiting on him when he got out of school this afternoon.  Selah and I found some pumpkin stickers, which was a double whammy since it was a circle and Korban loves pumpkins.  He was very pleased to get it when I picked him up from school this afternoon and immediately fastened it to Tigger's head.  So pleased was he with the "circle hat" that he brought Tigger outside to play with us this fine afternoon.  Tigger even got to ride in the wagon!  Part of the way up the trail though, Korban stopped and removed Tigger from the wagon and posed him into a sitting position on the side of the trail. "What are you doing?" I asked him.  "Tigger needs to poop," he replied seriously.  Cracked me up.  So we started walking away and I went back to fetch Tigger before the dog made off with him.  "No!" Korban shouted and Selah said (in her bossy tone) "Leave him alone.  He's trying to poop!"  Well....If you've ever wondered about how Tigger's do their business, I guess now you know.   So we left Tigger and walked to the end of the trail and back.  When we returned to the spot, Tigger was still sitting and waiting for us.  Or according to my kids, trying to poop.  Maybe Tigger needs more fiber in his diet.  Anyhow, we walked some more and all was well.  On our last trip back by Tigger I convinced Korban to retrieve him so that nothing would happen to him.  We were walking out of the woods and Selah and I were walking ahead of Korban and Tigger.  I heard Korban's signature scream, and I turned around but I couldn't see anything wrong.  He was standing there at the edge of the woods, holding Tigger and looking angry.  "What happened?" I asked him.  He didn't answer.  He pretty much never answers that question.  Once he's upset, communication dwindles drastically, which is very unfortunate.  I could see what was about to happen, but I couldn't get there quick enough to prevent it.  Quick as a flash, Korban raised his arm and chunked Tigger into the woods.  Directly into the middle of a sizable briar patch.  Sigh.  Of course, he immediately started crying to have Tigger back, and I couldn't get him.  Why would he toss his favorite toy out into the woods?  Poor impulse control.  He was upset and he acted and he regretted it right away but couldn't do anything to change it.  Happens all the time.  Like with his aggression.  Even though I'm the person he's with most of the time, and he's very clingy to me, and I feel sure he loves me very much, I bear the brunt of most of his aggression.  It's very trying.  Anyway, I took Korban and Selah inside and tried to calm him down.  I never did figure out what got him upset to start with.  When Brad came home from work, I went down to the walking track to walk and spend some rare time alone and Brad played outside with the kids and successfully completed Operation Rescue Tigger From The Briars with only a few scratches.  To Brad, not Tigger.  My hero!  Korban and Tigger are now in the bed asleep and Brad asked me "So how did Tigger wind up getting thrown out into the woods anyway?"  I said "It's a long story.  First he was pooping in the woods, and the next thing I knew, he was out in the briar patch."  Nope, never boring.  Not around this house!