A few days ago, my little Tornado was sitting in her high chair enjoying a small bowl of scrambled eggs. As she was not yet finished with her bowl, she decided to tip it over the highchair. Scrambled eggs all over the floor.
My sweet brother-in-law hurried over to pick it up but I stopped him and politely said, ¨no, Zoe made a mess, now she has to clean it up.¨ I looked at her as I said it, so she knew this was pretty serious. She politely replied, ¨no Mama.¨ Grrrrr
I got her down from her high chair and sat her in front of the scrambled-scrambled eggs and I asked her in a very stern yet soft voice, ¨Zoe, will you please pick up the eggs and put them back in the bowl. Then when you´re done, you can throw it away.¨ She replied in a adorable yet frustrated voice, ¨no Mama, no ex¨, (¨eggs¨ in 21-month Zoe language is ¨ex¨). Then, oh-so proudly, she tried to walk off. Oh noooo, you didn´t? Fight it Suzi, do not raise your voice. Do not.
I picked her up again, sat her in front of the ¨ex¨ and firmly asked again, ¨Zoe can you please clean this up. You made a mess, now its nice to clean it up.¨ Her lip started to quiver. Really? She would rather cry and fight me on this then to clean up her mess? Mommy fail #14.
But, lo and behold...she didn´t cry! Not only did she NOT cry but she started to pick up each little bit of scrambled egg and put it back into the bowl! Am I dreaming? Note to self: mark this in your ¨Zoe¨ calendar and definitely blog about this!
I sat there with her, without helping her and even pointing out bits and pieces she missed. She didn´t enjoy it. I clearly saw her looking around for a scapegoat, Papa maybe? No Papa and Tete (her sweet uncle) was not going to help her this time.
All cleaned up, I gave her a rag to wipe down the wood floor. Hey, I had to milk it for all its worth! This was my ultimate Super Mommy moment!
When she was done, she gave me a huge hug and walked off without a word. I sat there, motionless. I should go help her wash her hands. Just give me a few seconds Universe, to really let this sink in. Wow, so this is what it feels like?... Nice.
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