Skip to main content

In her mind...in her eyes...in her words...



What does this face say to you?

Here's what this face, regularly, says to me:

Her: You're a mean girl.

Me: How so?

Her: You. Just. Are.

Me...raised eyebrows.

Her: A MEAN MEAN girl.

Me: Is this about the chocolate? Is this about me not letting you eat the chocolate for lunch?

Her: HUMPH!

Me: Or maybe it's the new toy. I said I was not going to go to the store and get a new toy for you today.

Her...jaw juts out, bottom lip hardens.

Me: Or maybe it's because I told you to clean up your toys.

Her: MEAN!

Me..arms waving: Someone call CPS, vicious mom, cruel parenting, abuse abuse! A mother making her child clean up her toys! Unheard of!

Her: It's too much for me. I'm too tired.

Me: Maybe we need to take away the toys, maybe you have too many. Point out the ones you want to keep and I'll put away the rest.

Her: Moooooooommmmmm, I don't like those words! You're a rude mean girl!

Me: Toys need to be put away.

Her: I will...in a minute...I'm playing now.

Me: A minute ago you were too tired to clean up. You're too tired to clean, you're too tired to play.

Her: I. Don't. Like. Those. Words!!!!

Me...

Her: If you don't help me clean up then I will...I will...I will take away this toy now!

Me: Okay. Want me to take it away?

Her...

Me...

Her: NO! This is my toy! I can't play ever again. You said I can't play ever again.

Me: I said you need to clean up these toys here before going on to play something else.

Her...more of the same

Me: Clean. Up. Now.

Her...more arguing, bargaining, threatening.

Me: Clean. Up. Now.

And how does it end? With a garbage bag of toys, as usual.

I'm so looking forward to the teen years. Ought to be a lot of fun. Really.

By Julie Pippert
Artful Media Group
Museum Quality Digital Art and Photography
Limited Edition Prints
Artful by Nature Fine Art and Photography Galleries
The Golden Orchid: Original and Unique Wearable Art

© 2006. All images and text exclusive property of Julie Pippert. Not to be used or reproduced.

Comments

Julie Pippert said…
Yeah, love 'em.

Or else.

;)
April 24, 2006 at 9:21 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Restaurant Trauma in Texas: How eating out prompted a really uncomfortable lesson about culture

WARNING: This is NOT a family-friendly post, aka the warning I WISH I'd gotten yesterday before I walked in. Yesterday was a Holiday. I hope you heard the scare quotes around that. Yeah, when you are an adult here is how holidays work: you, same workload as always, kids WOO HOO NO SCHOOL FREEDOM. Do the equation. The result is the day I had yesterday. If math isn't your strong suit I'm pretty sure you can still add that up but just in case let's say the highlight of the afternoon included me dumping out the mismatched sock basket and telling the children to have at it, in a way very reminiscent of Miss Hannigan of Annie . Anyway luckily I've taught my kids that Chores are Fun! and they had a good time. Later, I cranked up the fun-o-meter on a bank errand by dropping in the Halloween store to check out costumes, and upped the ante on "Mom needs new running shoes" by tacking on a "Hey let's eat out at a restaurant!" My husband was able to join ...
49 comments
Read more

First it was cocktails and now it's marijuana?

Oh wouldn't Meredith Vieira love to get her graspy judgmental paws on this one: " I'm a Better Mother When Stoned ," by LJ Wilson (pseudonym) currently up at Babble (along with caveat that Babble doesn't endorse alcohol or illegal drug use while parenting). The only problem is I'm afraid I might end up nodding along with her as she rasps out a smug and self-righteous snarky comment that slams all parents who toke a dubie while parenting. Wilson writes I've been a weekend pot smoker since I was about eighteen. As a new mother, I continued the indulgence, but only when I was out and my son had a babysitter. I swore I'd never be stoned around my kid. And that plan worked for two and a half years, right up until one morning when my toddler waged a concerted campaign to fray each of my nerves. Wow. My first moment of disbelief was that it took two and a half years for her child to fray her nerves . That's some laid back well-behaved kid! Or some laid ...
45 comments
Read more

It's cancer

Adenocarcinoma. This is a common form of colorectal cancer. From About.com Definition of Adenocarcinoma Let's break it down. "Adeno-" is a prefix that means "gland." In general, glands secrete things and are classified as endocrine or exocrine. Endocrine glands secrete things into the bloodstream, like hormones. Exocrine glands secrete things that go outside of the body, like mucus and sweat. A carcinoma is a malignant tumor that starts in epithelial tissue. Put the two words together and you get "adenocarcinoma," which means a malignant tumor in epithelial tissue, specifically in a gland. Cause of Adenocarcinoma Virtually all adenocarcinomas develop from adenomas. In general, the bigger the adenoma, the more likely it is to become cancerous. For example, polyps larger than two centimeters (about the diameter of a nickel) have a 30-50 percent chance of being cancerous. You can learn more about polyp size and colon cancer risk by viewing the Polyp Size...
71 comments
Read more