Laying Down the Law
She fought the law, and I won.
“Hey Dad”
”What is the law?”
“Listen to your Dad”, I replied.
”No, not like that - like WHAT is the law?” she persisted.
I then explained how laws kind of work, and gave a few examples but the gist of laws are really a simple rule: be nice
Don’t speed because you could kill somebody.
Don’t rob a store.
Don’t cheat on a contract.
These all boil down to being…well, nice.
I get my little mud infused child home and the first thing she has to do when she gets home from camp is to go shower, because …ew.
“No.” She told me.
“I’m sorry, what? “
“No”, she told me.
Her timing was not perfect because I had a chicken on the grill at the same time and the last I checked the flames were…kind of scary. So, I tell her that she better get her little mud infested body in the shower before I get back.
Or… NO camp tomorrow.
Cue the screaming
I run downstairs on a poultry rescue mission and once I get that sorted, she is still in the bathroom fully clothed.
I told her. OKAY - no camp tomorrow. You can stay in your room and I can stay home and make sure you stay in your room.
Cue more screaming.
I go check on the chicken again.
I finally hear a shower. There’s hope.
But then when she’s out she starts complaining about wet hair. I tell her to just dry it with a towel, you did today at camp and it’s 82 degrees outside.
Cue even more screaming.
I go tend to my chicken and she’s still calming down and so I tell BW to come and eat - we don’t want her at the table anyway in that mood. She hears us sitting down and comes down with wet hair and a pink nightie on and a face that’s the the same color - some from shame and some from sunshine.
Before the NO started we had planned to shower/eat and go for a scoot around the block. The scooter went away obviously, because Dad might not be able to speak Spanish but he also has a word that’s the same as yours: NO.
Cue even more screaming.
She finally comes down and she happily eats and offers a half-hearted (and accepted) apology.
I then tell her about Dad’s new law number 4567 of journal 440 of the Dad’s law of the land:
This rule stipulates that if she tells me no 3 times, then I find a NO too.
And MY NO IS BIGGER THAN YOUR NO. For example for tonight not only be that there we be no camp but there would also be no first field trip of the summer to the trampoline place she is so looking forward to.
I think, I hope and I PRAY she got it through her head that she doesn’t get to say the word NO.
But, you never know.
Until Next Time,
TH and Co.