People who blurb platitudes like the title of this post should have seen Ricki on Friday morning. I had been very nice to her the entire 40 minutes after she woke up, despite the fact that she had been in a rather belligerent mood. I tried to ignore her scowls as best I could, and redirect her to the tasks at hand (like getting ready for school).
As she was leaving the house, she suddenly decided that she wanted some candy. I refused, but she headed towards the closet, pushing me aside, and searching on her own. I reiterated that she was NOT going to have candy, but since her breakfast had been a bit small, she could have 3 small crackers. She took the crackers, and continued her search for candy. I told her emphatically “NO”, explaining the ANYWAY there is no candy in the house (we sent all nosh off immediately after Purim, to make restraint unneeded…). (We only saved a bit in a closed box, for Shabbat to share with soldier-son David.) Well, she threw a real tantrum. Thankfully I managed to not answer her back (hoping to decrease the volcanic intensity of her eruption), but she continued ranting aloud in the stairwell. After her driver had waited patiently 5 minutes, I phoned his cellular phone and told him to go ahead and leave. It was time for Ricki to learn that her ride will not wait forever. Luckily for me, her present aid lives near us and joins Ricki in the cab. So I would not have to get dressed and accompany Ricki myself. The aide could do so, especially since it was already 8:00 am (when she starts work), and the school is really only about 20 minutes away by foot at the most. I explained that today they will have to go to school by foot, but the aid was a bit concerned that Ricki would be problematic on the way. However, even as we talked, my daughter was calming down, and the aid agreed to accompany her.
I hope that Ricki learned a lesson today.
But she is not ready to be the world’s peace diplomat, “SO loving”……..
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