Under the Influence...

Believe it or not, sometimes my kids are bad. They argue, scream, whine, and sometimes resort to old fashioned fisticuffs (Xavier's a killer, seriously). How they respond when confronted or "in trouble" varies, but I'd say they're fairly well adjusted in terms of handling emotions.

However, there are exceptions to this rule. The other night Diego was fired up and doing several things he wasn't supposed to be doing. Picking on/instigating his brother, using his outdoor voice while indoors, etc. He was also talking nasty to his parents, which in our house ranks near the top of the totem in terms of cruddy behavior.

So I responded as any level headed father would and sent the boy to his room to calm down. He was very upset and angry following the exchange, so he huffed and puffed and stormed the few feet into his room. I peaked in from a vantage point at which he could not see me, and observed an interesting phenomenon. Diego took his authentic Redskins sweatband and wrapped it around his knuckles. He then pulled out his 3-foot stuffed Batman and proceeded to beat that ass, all while singing " I'm so hood!".

I'm not sure what to make of this, or what this says about my parenting skills (lack of?), but the neat tip I gained from all of this is : Listen to more jazz, especially around the kids. I would have much rather heard a nice skibbily-be-bop-boo while I watched my first born merk his Batman.