Long time, No see

It's been a long time since Mr. Meltdown and Ms. Tantrum stopped by, but they must have missed us because they came barging in yesterday.  I was not happy to see them.

Dee's class had earned a pajama day at school.  She was excited.  She had set out some PJ's that I thought looked dirty and a Christmas robe.  I moved them since she wouldn't wake up to talk to me.  I left a substitute.  When she finally woke up I was in the shower.  She found her original stuff and got dressed.  She was in a mood.  I think she thought, "I'll go as slow as I want and dress how I want.  What's she gonna do...take me to school in my PJ's?"  (That's my normal morning threat.  "Let's go.  Get dressed.  OK...then get dressed at school." )Without it, she decided she could be as slow and as rude as she wanted.  And she was.

We made it to school, but we had to find a fountain so she could take her meds.  She continued being rude and snotty.  I refused to leave her at school like that.  Without another word, I walked past her before-school daycare straight to the car.  She went nuts...no NUTS!!!   We were going home but she was screaming about the police.  She threw things in the car, broke things and screamed and beat the window.  Finally, I dug in my pocket and got her little $20 cell phone.  I rolled down the window and dangled it outside, and said, "One more sound.  One more thing thrown.  Your phone will live on I-29."  Silence.  Real silence.  Of course, as soon as I parked the car she started again.  I walked to the neighborhood trash bin.

She went even more NUTS!  Eventually, I made her sit down to start doing school work at home.  She tried her antagonistic approach.  "Why did you even get a kid if you don't love them?"  "I hate you."  "You are dumb and stupid."  Then....she starting repeating every word I said.  So finally I put the cell phone on the table and said, "I know you love this thing.  I wanted to give you another chance.  But a thing doesn't mean anything to me.  A nice, obedient and Christian acting girl does."  I got up and got a hammer.  The next time she said, "I HATE YOU.'  Down came the hammer with all my might.  I missed!  It was right there and I missed.  I think God knew I needed the leverage that phone gives me.

Eventually I told her she could go to school if she changed into jeans and a t-shirt in five minutes.  She actually said thank you.  She did not want to stay with me.  And when she came down.  She was smiling.  There was a twinkle in her eye.  And she was joking.  It scared me.  I was still quite furious.  Who can do that?  I decided she really needed to blow up to go on.  It was getting to be too much for her to handle everything.  She needed a good ole fashioned tantrum.  Now...I have to find a way to get her that same feeling without blowing up.

When we came home, the dogs were afraid of her.  They remember all too well.  I feel bad for her, but I don't have the patience for it any more either.  [Sigh]

A couple of funny things from this episode:
When we got home, she said, "I thought you were taking me to the police.  I told her no that would be too easy."

When she wouldn't cooperate, I told her it was OK with me if we worked straight through her tumbling class which ends at 8:45.  She said, "You should send me to tumbling for punishment, I don't like it that much anyway."  Right!

When she was back to herself, she wondered out loud what had happened the day before to precipitate it.  I told her it wasn't the day before, it was her wanting to be the mom, to be the boss.  I told her that I was the boss of her.  And until she is grown and married and living with her husband and paying the bills, I would be the boss.  She asked what if she stays single.  I said then you can't live in my house or use my money and you can be the boss.  She said, "I'm going to get a house next door to you."

I reminded her that she was not the only crazy person the house.  She told me that there was a crazy person in the house and it was not her!