By Robin P.
Last night after dinner Lillianna handed Rich two large gumballs from the goody bag she got at my niece's party on Sunday. "Here you go, Dad," she said in a solemn voice. She looked at me with a look that said, "This is your last chance to change your mind, Mommy. PLEASE, change your mind!" I smiled at her and said, "You know you can't have gum, sweetie. That was nice of you to give it to Dad." She sighed and walked away.
I was thinking how proud I was that Lillianna didn't complain about the gum when suddenly she stomped into the living room and yelled, "I wish I had better teeth! I wish I had better teeth!" I told her to go to her room.
We had been in New Hampshire the day before and we didn't get home until midnight so I didn't have the patience to listen to her whine. That's when it hit me. I started to really listen to the tone of her cries. I realized she was just overtired. I called her into the living room and said, "Sweetie, you need to go to bed. You are just being nutty because you are tired." "I AM NOT TIRED!" she protested.
I picked her up while she kicked and screamed and I put her in her bed. Rich layed down with her and rubbed her head and her arm. I put on her favorite CD and said good-night. After a few minutes she fell asleep.
This morning when she came into our room after 11 1/2 hours of sleeping she crawled into bed and said, "Thanks for putting me to bed right away last night, Mommy. You were right. I was over-tired!" She gave me a kiss and smiled. Sometimes motherhood is so rewarding.
My goodness. If my daughter would just ONCE see that I am right and doing what is best for her I would be content. Sounds like you have a very level headed little girl there...unless she is tired!
Posted by: Joye | June 30, 2004 at 02:31 PM
LOL! I don't think mine have ever admitted I was right, either. And I'm ALWAYS right ;)
Posted by: AGK | June 30, 2004 at 10:48 AM
You are right, motherhood can be so rewarding. I wasn't quite up yet this morning when Tony came in and found my teddy bear (yes I still sleep with a teddy bear)on the floor. He picked up, reached over and attempted to put it under my arm. Then he leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I couldn't help but smile as he scampered out of the room to tell his daddy what he'd done.
Posted by: VJ | June 30, 2004 at 10:07 AM
My kids would never admit I was right!lol
Posted by: emily | June 30, 2004 at 09:47 AM