Persistence

It all starts with a watermelon….

We have a watermelon sitting on the floor of the kitchen. The boys see it and want to eat it…Thus starts my story….

Mommy: “No boys. Not today. That’s for tomorrow.”

Zion: “What’s going on tomorrow?”

Mommy: “We’re going on to “so and so’s” house for lunch and bringing the watermelon with us. So we can’t eat it today.”

Boys together. “Oh man.”

But they understand the need to wait, and that’s the end of it….

Or so I thought…

10:30 am – Glorianna : “ooooohhhhhh. A lemon!! I want some!”

Mommy: “That’s not a lemon, Glorianna. That’s a watermelon.”

Glorianna: “Can I have some?”

Mommy: “No, that’s for tomorrow.” (at this point, I proceed to explain the whole story again, sense she missed it the first time around)

She pouted a few seconds and then ran off into the other room. Thinking the matter settled, I went upstairs to do my ironing.

10:35 am – I heard a drawer open. Yes, I can tell when a kitchen drawer is being opened even from the other room.

I go downstairs, only to discover Glorianna is trying to cut the watermelon with a butter knife. (this is why all my sharp knives are put high up in the cupboard where kids can’t reach them)

Mommy: “Stop, Glorianna. You can’t do that. I told you, the watermelon’s for tomorrow.”

Glorianna: “But I want some now…”

Mommy: “No Glorianna. We have to wait until tomorrow.”

At this point, I realize she is determined to have some watermelon, no matter what the costs. The solution? I took the watermelon outside, put it in the front seat of the van and locked the doors.

I’ll spare you the quotes of her continued protests, which went from “I want to eat some now” to “I want to go over to “so and so’s” house now.”

Moving on…

10:37 am – I went back upstairs to continue on with my ironing, while trying to ignore the winy protests of a 4 year old.

This is where it gets interesting…

(keep in mind that my bedroom is directly across the hall from Glorianna’s room. I am ironing and can still see her bed just fine)

10:39 am – “I wanna go noooow.” (whimper, whimper)
“No Glorianna. We aren’t going today. We’re going tomorrow.”
“But I wanna go now.” (whimper, wine, whimper)
“Glorianna, go to your room and lay down on your bed until you stop crying.”
(I sent her off to do so, with a swat on the behind)

10:40 am – I choose to ignore the winy, whimpers from the bedroom across the hall.

The next several minutes sound like this…

Remember record players? I do, and I’m not that old, so I know my faithful readers have to remember them. Well, remember the annoying sound they make when a record gets stuck?

Ok…well with that in mind, do this for the next 5 minutes. You may not think 5 minutes is very long, until you try this yourself. Trust me…it seems like an eternity.

“I wanna go now.” click “I wanna go now.” click “I wanna go now” click….

I’m sure you get the idea…

10:45 am -broken record stops. I lift my eyes from the shirt I am ironing only to realize that she sees me watching her and starts up again.

“I wanna go now.” click “I wanna go now” click…

10:46 am – I continue on with my ironing.

10:47 am – silence

10:48 am – “I want something tasty and juicy.”

Ahh…she tries a new approach.

Mommy: “How about an apple?”

Glorianna: “No…I want watermelon.”

Mommy: “No Glorianna. You have to wait until tomorrow. That’s the end of it.”

silence….

10:50 am – A quiet little voice asks, “Mommy?”

“Yes, Glorianna?”

“Will you play domino’s with me?”