And Then. . .

And then, they were up. Yesterday afternoon, despite the fact that clearly--clearly--all any of us wanted to do was pitch a fit before curling up in a ball with a blanket and waiting for the next day, we had to head to pick up a book at the library and go to Home Depot. Joe informed us that he did not need to wear a coat. We said he did. He said he did not. Julie said if he did not wear a coat then he would stay home, with Mommy, and just Daddy and Clara would go.

Joe called Julie's bluff. But, she wasn't bluffing. Ted and Clara left, and Joe. Flipped. Out. Holy buckets, and cabooses, Fans. He SCREAMED. He tore up the stairs. He pounded on the walls. He pounded down the stairs. He ran out of the house. He kicked as Julie hauled him back in. He screamed some more and toys around.

There used to be some small and furry woodland creature that lived in or at the foot of one of the downspouts in the backyard. One day, Berenice and Raleigh caught sight of it as it made a beeline for home, and proceeded to nearly tear the downspout off the house in their zeal to nab this undoubtedly terrified scrap of fur.

Joe's tantrum sounded a bit like that. It was truly, truly, really epic.

Julie was in the kitchen doing the dishes, and furiously thinking, "Are we too strict? Did we make the right call? Should we draw such firm lines?" and so on in this vein.

Periodically, Joe would present himself to Julie in the kitchen, and say, "I have my listening ears on and my lip zip." (Presumably, "zip your lips" or something like this is said by the teachers at KinderCare since it's not something we say.) Julie would tell him that was wonderful--and go back to washing the dishes. And go would go back to screaming.

But then, he came to Julie, and of his own accord, said, "Mommy, I'm sorry. I'm ready to make a cision," by which he meant, "decision." After Julie had doped out what a "cision" was, she asked him just what that was. He said he wanted to go to the library and Home Depot. As he had long ago put on the coat, and Julie felt the point had been made, and well indeed, off we went to find the rest of our little Ekkers tribe, already headed to Home Depot, as it turns out.

And then the day was done.