She said: “All this work for a moment’s exhilaration! Mom is so mad she can’t speak, the floor is a mess, my back is killing me and I’m shut off from strawberry milk for a week…
…
… Totally worth it.”
Me: “Eva! That was very bad!”
Eva: “I’m sorry, Mama! I didn’t mean to!”
Me: “You DID mean to. I watched you hold out your plate and give it to her.”
Eva: “But it was an accident!”
Me: “It wasn’t an accident, Eva. An accident means you didn’t do it on purpose.”
Eva: “I love you Mama!”
Me: “I love you too, but you did a very bad thing.”
Eva: “But…can I have a cupcake?”
I wonder if the same defensive strategy might have worked for Conrad Murray?
Last weekend the whole extended family attended a luncheon at the Litchfield Inn in honor of my uncle. I was in charge of the girls, who ran between the wait staff’s feet as I chased them around with an omelet, while Doug took Tyler under his wing. Where do you suppose he took him first?
Doug: “Mrs. Lichota said Eva wasn’t being herself today.”
Me: “What does she mean ‘wasn’t being herself’?”
Doug: “She was being bitchy all day.”
Me: “Again, what does she mean ‘wasn’t being herself’?”
Our girl’s stubborn, spirited, and willful personality (aka Ms. Hyde) has finally made its debut outside our closed doors. She didn’t want to come in from the playground, and she made Mrs. Lichota (age sixty-something) climb up the slide to get her. She pushed Zachary, and she wouldn’t say she was sorry.
Our first behavioral complaint from a teacher…interesting being on the other side for a change!