So, around noon today, Alex had a pea accident. Dropped a bowlful of frozen peas on the floor, much to her non-chagrin. Nope, didn't care at all, really. But I cared, which is silly of course. What does it matter if there are a few hundred peas rolling all over the floor right where we walk a hundred times a day? Well, being the crazy, uptight Mom that I am, I asked Her Highness to pick up the peas. She put a few peas in her bowl, then had a change of heart and started smooshing them around instead.
A fun game, I agree, but only if you're not the adult who likes clean, pea-free floors. Anyhoo, I asked her very nicely (as always, of course) to please continue her cleanup efforts. But, in the absence of pea-absorbing booms, she declined.
To make a not terribly long story a bit shorter, she declined repeatedly, resulting in uncounted time-outs in her room. Sometimes self-imposed, as in :
Mommy - "Are you going to clean up those peas now?"
Alex - "Can I have a time out instead?"
Mommy - "Yes, you can always have a time out if you want one."
Many book deprived, stuffed snake-less, somewhat tearful hours later, she decides that the best way to cheat the system was to tinkle on the potty. She tinkled three times in the space of an hour, earning three Hershey Kisses as per the pre-established potty agreement that's been going on for months. Amazing what a skipped lunch will do to improve her bladder control.
One roll of shredded toilet paper later (what is she, a bored cat?) and Daddy arrives home. He asks her, as he did previously over the phone, to clean up the peas. Apparently his imposing presence was enough to terrify her into doing that which she would not do before. Peas cleaned up, she still managed to fuss her way into an early bedtime (which was also completely devoid of all book reading due to the million-time-out afternoon) but now she's asleep, Gabe's asleep, and all is well in the world. Though I'm fairly sure I saw a pea smear near the kitchen table.
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