Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Evil Comes in Small Packages*



Sweet Pea had cheese slices, turkey lunchmeat and fruit for lunch. She sits at the 'big' table now with Mama and Dada. She puts her bare feet up on the table while she eats, saying, "Look at me Mama, I got my feet on the table," like a little toddler dare that really says "What are you going to do about it?" I threaten to clip her toenails because she hates it, and she takes her feet down. But 2 seconds later, they're up on the table again with the same mocking look on her little toddler face. I get out the baby nail clippers and wrestle her while I clip her big toenail. She's screaming in anguish because it 'hurts', but after I'm done 2 seconds later, she's miraculously recovered...and she seems able to laugh at me with her eyes...with her feet up on the table again! I try to ignore it.

I ask her if she's done eating. She says yes...I make a fatal mistake...I leave the table without collecting her lunch plate first... which has chewed up cheese, turkey meat remnants and sticky fruit cup juice on it. As I turn the corner to the kitchen sink, I don't see it but I hear it: her plastic Pooh bear plate and all its leftover contents flipping up into the air and landing face down on the floor...toddler lunch spread some two feet in all directions. And she's smiling at me.

I briefly lose it: "TIA! No throwing your plate!" I swat her on the butt. I turn her around to look at her face. Have I done anything that will bother this girl? No. She is smiling at me... with that open-mouth smile and her one little dimple in her left cheek like she's about to laugh. And she looks so damn cute. And that makes ME laugh.

There goes any chance of being taken seriously.

Curses on her cuteness!

*I forgot to take a picture of the described event. But the one above will do: it's what you get when you tell her not to stand on the coffee table.

3 comments:

Kristin said...

hahaha this is the cutest stories! You are a great writer, I love your anecdotes about Tia! What a cute little devil :)

Colleen said...

Look at that 'what are you going to do about it?' face in that picture! Oh lawdy do you have a handful!

Lisa said...

Oh Mama! Somehow, I suspect you have a little Roberta on your hands....

But she's so dang cute. Thank goodness! :)