Cosette, sweet sweet Cosette. She has developed a temper, she has. When she gets really really mad- and it can happen instantaneously- she will throw whatever it is she is holding at the time across the room, then she looks at you, takes a deep breath, clenches her fists, and shouts "nnnnnnnnnnnoooooooo!". Her inflection is such that the intensity peaks as she completes the syllable, and her face turns bright red.
It is so shocking, sometimes I get scared. And then, I see Juliette in Cosette. And then, if I want to be truly honest, I see myself in her, too. The throwing thing? I definitely understand that. Ask Greg. I have been known to throw things in anger. I remember one night, while we were still a blissfully unburdened with responsibility newly married couple without kids, driving home from work as it was getting late. Greg was in the city that day, and I called to find his ETA.I told him that I would have dinner ready when he got home. (Usually, Greg cooks, but I went through a phase when I was the primary meal preparer of the family. It was a short lived phase, because Greg can't help but offer criticism of my cooking, until finally I lost my temper and told him that if he was so much better at it, then why didn't he do it? So now he does.) Anyway, on this particular evening I was prepared to cook a simple but satisfying dinner. Fast forward to an hour or so later; dinner was just about done, and I thought Greg should have made it home by then, so I decided to call and find out where he was. And do you want to take one guess where he was? He and his boss had decided to stop at a restaurant, and they were having drinks and waiting for dinner to arrive. I had the hot casserole dish in my hand, and in a fit of anger I threw it across the room. I left it there, and when he got home a little while later he cleaned it. He still reminds me of that event, but I'm not sure he should, because I am not the bad guy in that story.
Anyway. I don't remember ever throwing things in front of the girls, though. Or, do I? No, no I don't.
Sometimes she'll throw something that I know she wants- like her sippy cup which I just filled for her at her request. Then she has to walk over and pick it up, which she will do, still crying. When she has a real knock down drag out laying on the floor kicking and screaming temper tantrum, I just leave her alone. It drives Greg crazy, but I ignore it. Eventually she stops, wipes her tears, and comes looking for me, arms outstretched, wanting to be held. I pick her up and she wraps her arms around me, snuggles her face into the crook of my neck. I ignore the snot and tears, because despite the chaos that prefaced the moment, those are moments I treasure.
