Written by I should probably go on record saying that, overall, I really don’t have a whole lot to complain about when it comes to my child. Sure, she has her moments–moments when her sweet little Dr. Jekyll personality is suddenly sucked from her body and replaced with a yelling, screaming, red-eyed little Ms. Hyde that foams at the mouth and pierces your eardrums with a scream that could melt your brain right out of your skull. And, as a Work-at-Home-Mom, I definitely endure more than my share of the Terrible Two-Year-Old Tantrums that might certainly drive some less patient folks to petition the Vatican for permission to perform an exorcism.
Thankfully, those moments are few and far between here in the Romano house. Most days, I’m amazed at Cadence’s resilience, her patience, her level of understanding which far surpasses her years.
Even so, I have to say that Cosette, our little visitor from the North Pole, has been a very welcome addition to our household if for no other reason than she has helped curb Cadence’s very bad habit of saying “No.” And if there is one thing about Cadence I would complain about, it’s the frequency (and volume) of the No’s that come out of her mouth, and it drives me CRAZY! Especially the days she wakes up with her No Button stuck in the ON position. Doesn’t matter what you ask her, tell her, order her, or politely request her to do, the answer is a quick, vehement “No!” Even when it’s something you know she wants.
“Hey Cadence, would you like a piece of chocolate?”
“NO!”
Followed immediately by…
“I NEED CHOCOLATE! I NEED CHOCOLATE!”
“But I thought you said ‘no’.”
“NOOOOO!!! I NEED CHOCOLATE!”
Yeah, those are the days I just want to spike her juice with Benadryl and drown my frustrations in Lifetime movies and leftover Halloween candy.
So, you can imagine that these past three days with Cosette in the house have been pretty awesome, since it has forced Cadence to carefully consider the consequences before she belts out a chorus of No’s. In fact, yesterday when she started bouncing around in her crib and hollering at the top of her lungs instead of lying down to take a nap like she was supposed to, all I had to do was yell up the stairs…
“Cadence! Time for night-night!”
“No! I dont wa–“then silence. I imagine she was thinking about the fact that Cosette was sitting downstairs, listening to every word. Then, she must have laid down and went to sleep because the next two hours were blissfully silent.
Aaaaahhhh yeah! 🙂
So, after saying goodnight and flying off to give Santa another stellar report on Miss Cadence, Cosette returned and gathered a few friends together for a movie party. And this is exactly how Cadence found them when she woke…
And her reaction was priceless…
We’re all big movie buffs in this house, so Cadence was tickled by the idea of spending a lazy morning with Cosette and the Toy Story cast, watching movies on the couch. She settled right in for the show.
Now that is what I call a good start to another good day! 🙂
Lori Romano 