Rule #6 - Payback is a...well, it sucks

So today was "Picture Day". My son turns 2 in a few weeks so I thought I'd go ahead and bring him in for his yearly photo at the local Wal-Mart. We did them at Wal-Mart last year and had no complaints. When you have a small child and dunno whether they have agreed with you that this is Picture Day as well or not, it's best not to spend too much money on your photos. Plus...I had a coupon!

Anyway, so Evan also left for Texas today for a work conference too. It was a rough morning for everyone. I decided that if we left the house for photos at the same time he left for the airport, then goodbyes wouldn't last as long or be as hard. But that also meant we were 30 minutes early for our photo appointment. I refuled the Mom-mobile and asked James about his thoughts on a carwash. (I've been having quite a few of those lapses in judgement lately.)

James was completely terrified. I have never seen him that scared for that long and it broke my heart that I couldn't just accelerate through the wash. (I coulda, but I'm not sure I could afford the insurance if I had rear ended the guy in front of me.) He was shaking from the fear and putting his fists in his mouth (which, come to think of, was an amazing task). I tried my best to comfort him -- heck, I thought I was going to have to drive to the hospital next after my 2-year-old suffered from a heart attack! I tried holding his hand and comforting him the best I could from behind the wheel. When it was finally over, I pulled into a parking lot and jumped into the backseat with him. He was still crying and I felt like the worst mother in the world. After about 5 minutes of reassuring him that we were done and that I loved him and I was sorry, he stopped crying.

Picture time! (Nothing like traumatizing your child before that!)

Needless to say, James got his payback. He wasn't sad and cranky at all. He was happy as can be. But he insisted on running around the "studio" and going NOWHERE near where the photographer wanted him. When he did, he was posing with the Gene Simmons tongue. His Auntie was there. That did nothing for him. He had a huge assortment of toys at his feet...nothing. After 20 minutes of trying to keep him sitting in one area, we called it quits and rescheduled.

I think NEXT time, I would even let him drive us there if he wanted to. Or I could explain the truth about Elmo....then I wouldn't get a picture for years.