Seriously

I need to let go...I have some control issues as many people do, I want things done my way or the right way and live with much added stress due to these often ridiculous expectations.
Sometimes I do well coping and adjusting and others? not so much- Now, that I have a child I experience the feeling nearly daily. So, I thought I would try some preventative work with Edmond in his Halloween costume. Then, I am not stuck with only one opportunity to catch the perfect pic...the results went as follows....
an excerpt from Take I:

I present the best one- when he was too stunned to figure out what was going on yet- I had just stuck him on the hay bale and snapped-this was the first shot of the shoot.
Meet our turtle

Then, we needed to suck on a rock- here is selecting the finest specimen...

Why suck on a rock when you can have this big awkward stick hanging out our mouth?

If I can get under this fence there are both sticks and rocks available...

I wonder what this plant tastes like?

Now, those were just a few of the random photos I caught trying to capture a good one and they were all mere coincidences not that I was attempting pics of naughtiness- exhausting I tell you! The others in the series involve picking the pumpkins off the hay bales and rolling them around like balls- and checking out everything in the yard but my camera lens.
However, now that he has slept through the night 5 nights in a row, I may have more energy to deal with my patience level(:
Last weekend we were at my parents. We have started to work with the, "No, no" and shake our heads and of course he laughs, shakes his head, does whatever again and/or any combination of those, but he is just so young and I see so many parents get angry and take their frustrations out in discipline and then wonder why their kid dishes what they get. So, I have been trying saying "Thank you," or "Yeah!," when he listens, but I know sometimes this creates a game. Anyway, he was doing something at my parents and I told him, "No, no," and when he listened I said, "thank you." However, my family thought I was saying, "No, thank you." So, now the big joke is to say, "No, thank you Edmond, " in a sing songy fake cheery voice when he is being naughty. They think it is a hoot or they thought I should say until, he broke one of my Mom's candle holders on her mantel- my mom kind of tweaked, but my dad was like, "I wasn't going to be the bad guy."
Oh, little boys(:
Work is going well. I have a new supervisor who is a great listener and knows the value of positive feedback-hooray! However, I am realizing I might want to be more involved. I hear some really depressing stories about societal woes. I want to help more than get them money. I want to help them make the right choices with it and to have a future. My latest story is a woman with 5 kids two living with grandparents and the other three- all with disablity problems I could relate back to poor pregnancy choices):-ugh! When I talked to the social worker to have her help with the forms, she said, "They are just kids..."?! What are you doing in child protection again???