"Honey, you have got to get out."

That is what I told Zach as he was dilly-dallying his way out of the car at school this afternoon. There was a kiss and a "Have fun!", but my spirit was one of "Please, just get out of my car". He was just being rotten this morning. Well, some crazy mix of delightful and rotten. How is that even possible? He and Luke were playing together wonderfully well, and then all of the sudden Zach's telling Luke not to swipe his toy. The problem is that WHILE Zach was using words, he'd also gotten to his feet, reached across the table and put his hands around Luke's neck! This happened in a full waiting room at the doctor's office. I had Zach come sit with me in time out. He immediately burst into tears and I quietly (in my best mean-mom voice and facial expressions) explained to him that he needed to stop crying, whining and arguing with me immediately. Once we were back in the exam room and the doctor had come in, he cozies up next to me on the exam table and proceeds to lightly kick his brother in the face! (It was very lightly, just enough to annoy his brother into tears.) He was sent into a corner chair for time out and (can you believe THIS?) was given only one piece of candy by the doc after the visit. Luke had two since he was so well-behaved. (Why did I let Zach eat that candy?) So, on the way out of the doc's office, Zach bumps Luke full-on, knocking him to the ground. What is wrong with this child??? We are consistent with discipline and he is angelic when in someone else's care. He just seems to come out of his cranky shell when in the comfort of his family.

Since starting school, this is kinda par for the course. He seems tired after school... But why is he acting like this first thing in the morning? My friend (also a first time kindergarten mom) thinks that maybe the kids are just stressed about school and acting out. (She's going through a lot of the same stuff with her son.) She is hopeful that they adjust and snap out of it within a month. I'm hoping that I will still be sane after a month!

Moms who've gone here before me... Did you experience this same sort of thing when your kids started kindergarten? If this is the norm, I can totally see why moms would perfer all day kindergarten to dealing with behavior that makes Mom say, "You have got to get out!".