Shenanigans

A couple weeks ago, I made a "real" snowman with the boys, complete with carrot nose. In the days after we built it, Jonah has frequently requested a "snowman-nose carrot," i.e. a long carrot as opposed to baby-cut. When he was in a defiant mood a few days ago, Jonah was threatened with the loss of dessert; he didn't obey and so promptly lost his dessert. That night after dinner, as I knew would happen, Jonah complained to me that he was "still just a little more hungry." "Too bad, son," I told him. "You lost your dessert." Undetered, Jonah went to the refrigerator and helped himself to -- can you guess? -- a snowman nose carrot. He washed it off in the sink, perched on his chair and munched on it happily while Manny and I finished dinner. As I asked my husband later that night, after he returned home: What's a mother to do? Jonah was essentially eating dessert, since the carrot was an after-dinner treat, but, for heaven's sake, it was a CARROT. Why would I want to stop him from eating a vegetable? If Jonah's rebellions consist of borderline-naughty carrot-eating, well, I should just count my blessings and move on.

Another day, Jonah was resisting taking a nap, though it was obvious to me that he was tired. He came out of his room for about the third time since beginning his quiet time an hour before, unbidden. My hands busy with a kitchen task, I told him firmly that he needed to go back into his room. Pouting and whining, he did, leaving the door open and then returning to close it about a minute later. I washed my hands and opened his door, assuming that he was playing and needed to be reminded to go to sleep. To my surprise, the child was lying on his bed, blanket pulled up over him. While I was happy to see this, Jonah was not happy to see me. "No, no, no, you can't come in here!" he shouted crabbily. "Go out!" Usually I correct Jonah's tone and words when he talks like this. This time, though, after a second's hesitation, I simply turned around and closed the door behind me, shaking my head. If he was actually trying to nap, why should I disturb him? I didn't hear another noise from Jonah until he emerged from his room a couple hours later. He won that one, but so did I.