Today, Jillian changed the game around here. The story goes like this: We planned to go to lunch at Pi Pizza after Bible study with my group and their kids. Pi is one of her very favorite spots in town. I told her we were going as long as she was a good listener that morning. I picked the girls up from their rooms after study and reminded Jillian that we needed to go straight to the car and head over to Pi to try and get some tables. Jillian immediately threw herself down on the ground (always in the middle of the hall, in front of the whole wide world) and screamed loudly about wanting to play on the playground. I calmly reminded her that we wouldn't be able to play today (and besides, it was really cold) and that she needed to stand up and come with me to get our stuff and get to lunch. I reminded her that if she kept giving me trouble we would just go home. We were almost out the door, when she started in again, flailing herself on the ground, kicking, etc right in the breezeway of the church. I got down on my knees (holding Adrienne, J's coat, and a large bag through all this, mind you) looked her in the eyes and told her that she needed to come with me calmly right now, or we were going home. What did she do? Screamed right in my face. So--I told her we were going home and proceeded to haul my screaming circus past about 75 more people to the car. Jillian screamed, and screamed, and screamed--about how sad she was, how she wanted to go to Pi pizza, etc. As I was driving toward home I was conflicted--follow through, or pull over and have a discussion to maybe offer her a bit of grace in this circumstance (maybe the punishment was too harsh? I was just fighting with myself, and angry that I had held up that lunch out over her head in the first place, knowing she would push and push to test the limit). So I tried--I pulled over, opened her door, leaned in, and calmly attempted to ask her what happened, what other choice she could have made, etc. This was met with more blatant screaming in my face, so I had my answer. Home it was. More screaming when she realized I really WAS taking her home. We get in the garage just as our flooring guys were leaving for the day (new flooring project in the basement right now) and wanted to talk to me. I can hear her kicking and screaming like a wild animal about wanting to go to Pi as I stood outside trying to talk to the guys (while apologizing profusely for the noise). I finally get her inside, determined to stay calm and give as little attention as possible while carrying out this unfortunate consequence of lunch at home while our friends lunched at our favorite spot. She immediately turns off her fit like a switch, looks at me and says: "That's OK Mom, I didn't want to go to Pi anyway".
My jaw hit the floor. Is this kid really only almost 4, or is she 14???? Guess I'd better figure out my strategy for this new game before she wins again.
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