Ruby's Night Time Retrospective on the Afternoon Shower Fit of 2010

Ruby pitched a major fit this afternoon when asked to take a shower.  She did not like her bathroom or shower vs. bathtub choices.  And in typical Ruby fashion pitched a fit.  Eventually, we helped her out of her clothes and into the shower in spite of her protests.  It was not pretty.  It was not quite.  It was not dry.  It was not short.

At bedtime (over two hours late) she was talking to her Daddy about the fit.  Here is how the conversation went on:

Ruby: Daddy, I got really grouchy, which is past grumpy, and that is past mad and upset. 

Daddy: So how did that work?

R: Not very good.  I got mad at Mommy and then Charlotte and then Eliza Claire and then you, Daddy

D: So what could we do to help you not get past mad or upset.

R:  Charlotte could give me a Tic Tac (she bought some with her allowance today and is not sharing as many with Ruby as Ruby would like)

D: What about just me and you and not involving Charlotte and Tic Tacs?

R: Well I could just say "Guts! Guts! Guts!"

At this point I came in the room and Micheal left.  She told me that she and Daddy had had a nice conversation and next time she got mad she was going to say "Oh, Guts!"  I told her I thought that might work better and asked if when she said that we should ask her if we could hold her.  She said we could but that she didn't want me to hold her "like a spider web" like I had that afternoon (I had my arms wrapped around her and one of my legs over her legs to keep her from kicking me).  Then she said, "You was actually like a spider in a spider web holding me, except you didn't try to eat me!"  We then talked about how there were many reasons why I wouldn't try to eat her including that if I ate her she wouldn't be here anymore and then I would be sad and that she wouldn't taste good.  She is such a funny girl.

Now if she really would just say "Guts! Guts! Guts!" when she got mad instead of spewing her wrath loudly on all those around her. 

Jenn

PS.  On the way to a friend's house tonight Eliza Claire and I saw a deer in a driveway.  When Eliza Claire said she saw it, Ruby ask her where it was.  Eliza Claire told her it was in a driveway and Ruby responded, "That's a good way to get runned over!"