One of the things that has been good about Joshua going to school this year is the special time I get to spend alone with Sophie. Since she was my second-born, I obviously didn’t get too much alone time with her when she was a baby. And she and I are loving our time together.
Last Friday I needed to go to Kroger, but wanted to give Sophie a fun outing before I imprisoned her in a shopping cart (although truthfully, if I can get one of those race car carts, she’s pretty happy!) so we went to Tim Horton’s for a donut. Since our last pre-Kroger T-Ho’s run had ended in me getting a verbal spanking from the super-conscious folks who make Clorox wipes, I decided to go into Tim Horton’s to dine this time.
I sat Sophie at a table near the counter and ordered our donuts. Then, I turned to give her a reassuring smile while I waited for our order to be brought to the counter.
“Have my donut?” said Sophie.
“It’s coming sweetie, we have to wait our turn.”
Sophie likes waiting about as much as she likes getting her hair brushed, so she responded with a loud, disgruntled FUSS.
“No fussing,” I admonished her. “Say, ‘I’ll have patience.’”
My blonde little angelic-looking daughter narrowed her eyes, opened her mouth and screamed in a voice that was straight from Hades:
“I’LL HAVE PATIENNNNNCCCCCCE!”
Her scream was SO loud, and SO – well, scary – that the guy in line in front of me jumped about a foot in the air. When he turned to see the source of the fury, he cracked up laughing.
And so did I. Instead of scolding Sophie, I just dissolved into laughter. Hey, I told her to say “I’ll have patience” and she said the heck out of it. In a really distinct “Sophie” way.
Just then our donuts came up, and we dug in to some chocolate, sugary, donutty goodness. And Sophie didn’t even fuss when she asked for another one and I said “no”. So it wasn’t a total fail in the parenting column, right?
Commenters Rock!