Frustrating

Once upon a time, Josie was a pure baby. She was sweet. And she agreed with everything. Remember that one time?

Not any more. Her sweetness has been tainted. 

I blame the YMCA. She had to learn the dreadful word from children there. I don't use that word. I have protected her from all negative energy. Our home emanates pure positive energy. All the time.

Except that one time she poured water on my computer. I might have said "no" then. It fried my keyboard. (*)
Or when she dumped the entire tupperware of my favorite bean-corn-tomato salad on the floor. I'm pretty sure I screamed "no" that time.
And then when she locked herself in the car today while we were cleaning it out. There was definitely and audible "no."

Every once in awhile a little negative energy comes over me. And then I feel bad. I feel bad for worrying about spilled beans. I feel bad for being a little angry.

And mostly, I feel bad because moments such as this happen when I am distracted by something else. Wiping cheerios and smashed peas out of the car seat. Or washing crusty dinner dishes. Or vacuuming spilled cereal. All things that need to be done, but certainly not urgent matters.

I need to find the balance between the priorities of being a mother and being a housekeeper. It's hard for me. I like a clean home. But I like a happy baby more. She should be my number one priority. The crusty dishes need to soak anyway...

And while we're having a heart to heart, I better be honest. (I know it's not the YMCA's fault.) She was going to learn "no" eventually. It's inevitable. And truthfully, she doesn't fully understand the meaning. She has simply swapped it out with "yes." She's just experimenting. Trying new things.

I'm going to try new things too.
First up, I'm going to practice saying "no" as cute as she does.


(*) I took my sad laptop into the apple store. They said it would cost $124 to fix the keyboard. They lied. They did it for free. And they replaced my cracked ipod with a brand spankin' new one. All free. Apple for life.