Please keep in mind that if you’re in line at a drugstore that also gives flu shots, and there’s a small child shrieking like a banshee next to you, it’s possible that she’s not actually all that poorly behaved.
Maybe she feels like she got stabbed in the arm.
And if you still think that’s too much, maybe we can test your theory by seeing how loudly you scream when I stab you in the arm.
Yesterday was a Day of Tantrums.
It didn’t start out that way. Baguette woke up happy, because we were all there. Mr. Sandwich, who normally leaves at 6:00, was home to take care of some car repairs. I was about to get up; my alarm went off about two minutes after Baguette woke. There were snuggles and giggles and more snuggles.
She did not want to get up and go in the living room with me; she wanted to stay and snuggle. But eventually I needed her to get up, and managed to relocate her. Getting her dressed, on the other hand, was a different matter.
First, she didn’t want to take off her pajamas. Putting on pants wasn’t a problem, but she raged against the first two shirts I offered her, throwing them across the room. All of this was accompanied by screams.
She screamed at me when I changed clothes, retrieving my pajamas in an attempt to put them back on me.
And then, once we got to her school, she ran up to sit next to a little boy and play with the toys he had out.
Back home, she wanted Play-Doh–as she always does, these days–but she screamed rather than say “please,” and then she screamed instead of saying “sorry.” So the Play-Doh went away.
Later, she found another container of Play-Doh. Rolling it flat led to screaming. Packing it into a ball, or returning it to the container? More screaming. I handed her a wooden block in the shape of a cylinder so she could roll it out herself. She screamed as she rolled, tears streaming down her face.
She couldn’t tell her what was making her so angry and upset, no matter how we asked. Instead, she just screamed. So that Play-Doh went away.
Finally, dinner calmed her down. And you’d think all that screaming would wear a tiny body out, but no. She was up until nearly 10.
Although on the plus side, she slept the whole night through. Can we call that a win? I’m having trouble answering that question.
Photo by Photos by Mavis, via Flickr. Creative Commons.