Attempted Temper Tantrum

Jonah has been such an easy kid. No terrible twos for him. His third year is almost complete, and while my friends talk of how difficult threes can be, this one has been complacent all along. (Never fear, and don't be jelly, Max is enough trouble to make up for both of them....)

Last night I served my family a meal that did not meet Jonah's approval. "I will not eat beans! You know I do NOT like beans, mom! Give me something else! How dare you cook beans!" Yadda yadda. This went on for some time, and as a rule of thumb I don't pay much heed to whether or not he "likes" what I cook - if it is on the table, why then, it is what we are all eating. Finally his frustration climaxed and he hollered in a fiery voice, (one that he did not get from his daddy...),

                                               "YOU ARE A BAD MOM!"

Everybody gasped.

Everybody turned.

Jonah met our horrified stares with a set jaw, and determination was written on his small face, anger in his large brown eyes.

Determined though he was, it melted in half a second.....then within another second his expression twisted into one of deep pain, sorrow, and a heavy dose of guilt.  By and by, he began to wail; a wail that rose higher and louder just like a siren at a fire house. His eyes unable to meet mine, he ran to me and hugged me, tears streaming down like pouring rain. Sobbing. Gasping for air, even. "Jonah! Jonah! Tell me whats wrong?" (Sob, sob.) "Jojo, what is it? Do you feel sorry for what you said?"
Suddenly he set his jaw hard again, determined all over again. He shook his head no.
Melt again, pained expression again, wail again.
I let him wipe all his tears and yes, probably snot too, all over my shirt and waited for him to calm down, all the while Paul glancing over at me with something like confused and startled sympathy. At last the crying died down to sniffling. "Do you want to tell me anything, Jojo?" (Sniffle). "You feel bad about what you said to me?" Long, very long silence....finally he whispered painfully, "Will you forgive me?"

Long after we had all moved on and the episode was clearly a thing of the past, Jonah stopped what he was doing every now and then and said remorsefully, "I just feel so...so sorry for you, mommy!"


Here's hoping that this lasts til his teen years!!! ( :