Nice Moments in Parenting

“I CAN’T DO IT!” she screamed at me.

I didn’t respond to this outburst. Just like I didn’t respond to any of the previous ones. The lass was sitting at the breakfast bar waiting for her grilled cheese sandwich and in the interim, had asked for orange juice to drink.

The bottle of orange juice was a half-gallon sized bottle. One of those fluted plastic ones. It was about two-thirds full. I figured she was more than capable of pouring the drink herself. I had given her a glass cup, with a heavy bottom figuring she’d need to rest the bottle on the lip of the glass in order to pour it. I can’t say I anticipated the hysterics though.

The life of a parent.

“Dad, I can’t pour this. I’LL SPILL IT!”

Ahhhh, here was the crux of the matter. Fear of consequences. It must be terrible to have the “Towel of Damocles” hanging around.

She was very near tears at this point. So I looked her in the eye and calmly said “You can pour it yourself.”

“No I can’t.” She was calmer now though.

“Yes, you can.” The ridiculousness of standing there and arguing with a child over her ability to pour a drink wasn’t lost on me. I actually considered going all Yoda on her: Do or do not- there is no try. I had to resist the urge to burst into laughter.

It was a tenuous situation all around.

Finally, she grabbed the bottle- one hand on the neck, the other supporting from the bottom. She tilted it down and rested the bottle on the glass and poured herself some OJ. She finished it up and then set the bottle down. No spillage.

Finished, she looked over at me and smiled from ear to ear but, remarkably for her, didn’t say anything.

Neither did I.