WTF?! Parental improv, more jam

Really? Today has been lunacy though I have to say I think I've handled everything quite well. Jack Jekyll went all Hyde on me when I told him that "no, in this heat and because you'll scare smaller campers, you may NOT wear a long-sleeved black shirt, dark jeans, and two bandanas covering everything north of your neck but your eyes to camp today just because you feel like being a ninja." A full-scale meltdown ensued, including shirt throwing, pouting to the max, refusing to wear anything but underpants which, might I add, were on backwards (fly enabling butt-crack freedom?) and a slap on my back. I think not. Though this was totally unlike my eldest, and I think he's plum pooped, I was, at that point, so enraged myself that I just closed the door and walked away. He flat-out refused to get dressed, and frankly I felt like he did not, in any way, deserve a fun day at camp. T took O, who was acting all saintly and dear (he was probably thrilled to be the "good one"), to camp and I worked around the house for about 30 minutes until I figured out how to handle this uncharted territory.

Service!

Back upstairs went I, and J apologized. I said that was definitely not enough in the context of the morning and to get dressed lickety-split as we were going to our garage in the heat to sort through our enormous, untended pile of baby clothes, toys, books, and other items needing to be properly stored or donated. He stacked the firewood that had escaped its pile and then helped me decide what was going where. We packed everything up and delivered some to a friend with a darling little toddler and the rest to a terrific anti-poverty organization. Lest you think we were joking around and hanging out, no. It was a somber, serious morning during which I hoped he learned something.

After our last drop-off, we went to a farmers market, had a good talk and bought a ton of gorgeous plums, blackberries, squash, beans and carrots. Since, I have made a double batch of the plum-basil jam from yesterday, this time with Formosa plums rather than Shiros. A babysitter is coming in 15 minutes, and I must say I feel relieved that I'll head out, hit the gym and work off some steam. I mean really, the adrenaline and stress in some of these parenting situations is unreal; you've no idea what to do, especially when it's a new challenge or experience, but you can't just give up and run. You have to tackle it head on and try to do that well. Whew!

Isn't this jam positively gorgeous?!