Tuesday, January 09, 2007

I usually keep Daisy company as she gets ready for bed. Last Thursday I was out being Lord Secretary of The PTA, so Hank stood in for me.

That evening Daisy was taking her allergy pill while roaming around my home office and she accidentally walked into my desk, spilling the contents of the pill bottle into the dusty corners of the room. When it comes to colliding with inanimate objects, Daisy takes after her old man.

Anyway, Daisy burst into tears and had the following conversation with Hank:

Daisy: Waaaaaaaaaaah! I spilled my medicine!
Hank: It's ok.
Daisy: No! It's not!
Hank: Sure it is. We'll get more.
Daisy: But it'll cost money! And it's my waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah fault!
Hank: Well, accidents happen.
Daisy: You should waaaaaaaaaah punish me!
Hank: No, it was just an accident. You didn't do it on purpose, did you?
Daisy: No, but I should have known that Daddy's desk was there. I should KNOW how big Daddy's desk is. Pun-waaaaaaaah-ish me!
Hank: Uh.... ok. Your punishment is to measure Daddy's desk. Go get the tape measure.
Daisy: Argh! Why can't I get normal punishments like normal kids?!

So, she measured my desk, and cried all the way through. And then she cried for another 20 or 30 minutes.

I think she has some bizarre punishment fetish. I hope we're not enabling it.

Kids are weird.

7 comments:

Linda@VS said...

Bless her heart! I feel bad for Daisy, but I have to admit it was refreshing to read about someone who's willing (OK, maybe TOO willing) to stand up and be accountable. Daisy was ready to "take her medicine" in more ways than one, and I think that shows character. Either character or a strong need for a reason to complain about her parents like her "normal" friends do.

Mike said...

Hmmm, maybe you're onto something with that idea about wanting to complain like her friends do. I'm going with that theory.

Neel Mehta said...

Daisy: Argh!

Wow, Mike, I had no idea your daughter was Charlie Brown. So, when you talk to her, is it all a bunch of "pwah pwah pwahs"?

Tasty said...

Dude, I WAS that girl. She has an overdeveloped sense of guilt. In my case, it kept my father sane while I was in high school and college... there were NO pregnancy scares... too much GUILT associated with those sorts of activities. Thank God I got over that! ;-)

Mike said...

Neel, I wasn't actually present for that conversation, so I added the arghs and waaaahs where they seemed appropriate.

Tasty, so, my fear is that when Daisy does ultimately rebel against authority, she'll do so with all her might, to make up for years (hopefully decades!) of repression. Was that the case with you?

Tasty said...

Yes. The year I was 35 included a lot of sex, a lot of vodka, and liberal use of the word "motherf(*&er".

Mike said...

Tasty, well, I'm all for the swearing! And if she waits until she's 35 to have all that sex, I can't complain about that either. As for the vodka, there are worse things. Like gin.