Amelia lost the coin toss, so she will take the first shower every night this week. Thirty-five minutes ago, we reminded her that she needed to take a shower. She stripped naked. She goofed off. Thirty minutes ago, we reminded her about her shower. She goofed off. Twenty-five minutes ago, we reminded her. Twenty minutes ago, she disappeared into the bathroom. Five minutes ago, she resurfaced to request some strawberries leftover from dinner. She was bone dry, as in, she had not even started her shower.
"Amelia!" I exclaimed, exasperated. "Why haven't you taken your shower yet? Get into that shower NOW."
"But I just wanted the strawberries first," she said.
"NO STRAWBERRIES. TAKE YOUR SHOWER."
She crossed her arms and stomped her feet. "That's EXACTLY why I hate grownups!" she announced and vanished into the bathroom.
Her dad asked, "Do you hate grownups because we get to tell you what to do?"
"No," she said, "because they yell."
That is a brilliant exchange... and she is right. We yell. Even when we don't want to.
Posted by: Jacqueline | March 29, 2009 at 09:18 PM