And now...

Elijah's really been pushing my buttons lately.

He seems to really be checking the boundaries.

I've had to spend a lot of time correcting and addressing his behavior.

He had definitely reached my limit when he tossed something in the kitchen

that I had told him to just set down.

He had crossed the line--

I had told him what I had expected of him and 

he deliberately disobeyed.

This earned him two swats:

one for doing the naughty thing

and one for deliberate disobedience.

I was at the sink when it happened

and a drawer was open near me.

I shut the drawer in frustration and

turned to handle the behavior of my son.

Well, right when I shut the drawer,

the mouse trap under the sink went off.

I froze.

I stepped away from the sink,

pulling Elijah with me.

(as if a mouse--in a trap, no less--is going to

suddenly plow through the child locked door,

teeth gnashing and fury unleashed.

Hey--it could happen.  I was just playin' it safe.)

Brave adult that I am,

I told one of the kids to open the door

and look in to see if a mouse had just bit the dust.

Andrew looked in,

no mouse in the trap.

Apparently, when I shut the drawer,

it had caused just enough movement in the cupboard to set off the trap.

Whew.

Wait--wasn't I in the middle of something?

Oh yes--correcting Elijah.

I was still holding his hand

and so we continued on our way out of the room

to take care of the issue he was having.

As I turned to go,

I heard Nathaniel say,
"and now, back to your regularly scheduled programming..."

That guy makes me laugh out loud every day.