Drama

I experienced something today that was bound to happen eventually with one of my three children....a full blown, everyone looking our way, tantrum. I honestly do not recall either of the boys ever just throwing themselves down and screaming while everyone watched in a public place. Mason-Kate did just that. It was over a cough drop of all things. We entered the grocery store (I am like Norm from Cheers, everyone knows my name at our local grocery store...the managers, the deli people, the bakers, the cashiers, everyone) and went immediately to the pharmacy to get Pryce's second antibiotic (first one not working - sigh). While waiting on the prescription to be filled, I grabbed a bag of cough drops. I opened the bag and gave one to Pryce. Mason-Kate wanted one too, of course. They are hard and she can't have one. I offered her other things but she insisted on having a cough drop and I insisted that she would not have one....the rest is blurry. There was screaming, there were tears, there was the arching of the back, the wailing for "daddy", there was the falling on your knees without even bracing yourself with your arms - this was done not once but twice so I am sure future knee surgery will be in place, there were strangers staring, staff offering cookies and bananas and coloring books, and all the while I stood there thinking "what in the world can I do to make her stop???"....finally it occurred to me to take her out of the store and that did it, she stopped. The term "strongwilled" does not even come close to describing her. Now that I have calmed myself, I am smiling because I am proud of her personality. I have said it before, and I will say it again, it is her will that got her where she is today. She had to fight, she had to be determined or she may not have survived.