How much does it really sink in

With having kids, there are some days I ponder how much of what you tell them truly sinks in.

Well this morning I did find out a little how much Zachary paid attention. Last night Zach spent some time at his Grandfather's as I went to the Dr's for a sinus infection. When we got home it was time to get ready for bed. I told Zach to get his pjs on and then he had 10 minutes to play and then read books before lights out. Lets just say the whole time before lights out was spent trying to get pjs on. I kept on getting on to him to get dressed himself (he always tries to get Mom to dress him). My polite pleases turned into calm reminders which eventually turned into threats and yelling. At this point I told Zach I was turning on the timer and when it went off he was going to bed lights out. Well of course the timer goes off and he isn't dressed. He ended up going straight to his room and slamming the door. I then came in there and politely said it was time for lights out and a nice "I don't want to see you until morning". No hug no nothing. I normally always give him a hug and kiss goodnight and tell him "Sweet Dreams". I hadn't cooled down enough to do that yet. Within a minute he is outside the room looking for his Chipmunk doll. Zach get back to bed. More whining and door slamming. Within a minute he is back out and wants to give me a hug. Breaks my heart a little.

I then take him back to his room and calmly talk to him. I let him know that I was not happy with his actions and we can try again tomorrow. He let me know tha he was not happy with me yelling at him. It scares him. I told him Mommy was only yelling at him because he wasn't listening and following directions.

Well this morning he woke up and came to give me a hug. The first thing out of his mouth was Mommy I'm going to try to listen today.