And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran



Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Movie Madness

As in insanity. Seriously.

Little Sprout wanted to watch "Emmo". I let her chose between two Elmo videos, and put the chosen one in. Ten minutes into the movie, she loses interest and I spend the next half hour chasing her out of Big Sprout's room, the bathroom (where she finds the toilet bowl brush fascinating), the kitchen (where she decides that the perfect place for my stash of Jell-O is on the floor), and rescuing That Damn Cat from being "petted". I would like to take a shower and get dressed in clean clothes, and none of that is going to happen if I don't do something quick.

In desperation, I ask her to pick a different movie, and she informs me she wants "Big Bewd".

I put in the Big Bird movie, and pressed play.

Five minutes later, Little Sprout is crying that she wants "Deeya".

I argue with her. She wanted Big Bird, she is getting Big Bird, Mommy has stuff to do today. But she is persistent, and I can't accomplish much while she is holding onto my legs and screaming at the top of her lungs, so I take the Big Bird movie out, put in Dora the Explorer, and go about my business.

Dora isn't what she really wants, though. She really wants "Bahnee". So I take out Dora and put in Barney, sure that this time will be the last. I still haven't accomplished a durn thing, and am wondering if I am gonna be worn out before I even get started on my self-appointed tasks for the day.

Before the beginning credits are over, Little Sprout is screaming that she wants "Emmo", but she is holding the Jungle Book movie case. So I take out Barney, put in Jungle Book, and go about my business.

Within seconds, Little Sprout is crying and grabbing at me, saying she wants "Dorg", but she has The Secret of NIMH in her little paws. I fight her on this one. After all, how am I supposed to know if she wants Curious George or Secret of NIMH?! And besides, how many times have I changed the movie so far? Really, the child needs to just pick, already.

I try to wait her out, but 15 minutes of her wiping snot all over me, screaming in my face, and behaving like the world is crashing down wears me out, and in goes Secret of NIMH.

She grabs her "Banky" (the beloved blanket) and curls up on the floor. I have a grand total of eight blissfully quiet minutes in which I foolishly waste my time writing this, and now she is grabbing me and yelling that she wants juice or milk. And it smells like she filled her diaper.

Anyone wanna buy a Sprout real cheap?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why shouldn't she continue to scream, grab your leg, rub snot all over you... it gets her what she wants, doesn't it :-)

barefoot gardener said...

Anonymous-
I know I should just tough it out and let her scream. Sometimes I do, but like most parents, I often lose interest in what is right and fair when faced with a choice between giving in and (the Holy Grail of Motherhood) Peace and Quiet. I am sure she will make me pay for giving in now when she reaches the teen years. ;)