Ungovernable

Edith is going through an especially high maintenance phase. For one thing, she has begun to throw a full-out screaming fit every time she is momentarily displeased — truly going from 1 to 11 in a flat second. It’s often difficult to tell exactly what is displeasing her; sometimes we do the “hot”/”cold” test with her screaming to solve the mystery. For example, today she wanted me to hold her and not to be set down, but she did not want to be held just anywhere. She wanted me to hold her in the kitchen, and more specifically directly in front of the sink. It took me some time to nail this one down, but once I was holding her in the exact spot she wanted, she was perfectly pleasant, unless I moved.

Also, she is all over the house. This morning, for example, after she screamed me out of bed and shouted me through breakfast and was finally quietly absorbed with some of her things, I turned around for a second to make some much needed coffee. I had only set the filter into the basket when I heard an ominous silence. She was down the hall in the powder room paddling one of her toys around in the toilet. (When I made her stop, she threw a fit.)

I’m just so proud of her! She knows what she wants and she DEMANDS it! This is a young lady who knows her mind and her worth.

Meanwhile, my mother is watching Edith for a minute, and I am writing this on my phone while I sit in a hot shower and eat tortilla chips. If anyone asks, I will be right out.