Orders

We survived a tough weekend. Well, honestly, it was probably only tough for me. I was impatient, grouchy, tired.

Okay, so my excuse is that I’ve got this annoying cough that keeps me awake at night and makes me worry about peeing my pants during the day. And wow does that thought make Olivia giggle.

The real reason is I’ve stayed awake too late the last few nights (but not last night, so yeah, I’m learning) reading. I know, so irresponsible.

But whatever. The excuses are what they are. The results are what is so bothersome.

My patience is so thin and poor Olivia is on the receiving end of my impatience.

I’m lucky that her feelings aren’t hurt easily.

It’s her sass that got to me this weekend.

She’s taken to barking out one word orders at me. It’s making me crazy. Even when I’m not tired, I’m known to give her a stern look when she does this but this weekend when she’d snap, “Smudges!” and hold her glasses out to me, I’d bark back.

I was heard saying a lot of, “Livie! Stop ordering me around. Stop barking single words at me and expecting me to drop everything just to serve you.”

This sounds so horrible when typed out but that child, that mischievous little girl just fights a smile whenever I snap back at her.

Finally, when she’d issued one too many one word orders at me, I told her, “I am not going to respond to you when you do that. If you want something from me, you have to use full sentences, phrase them as a request and say please.”

I don’t think she believed me but after the third or fourth time of being ignored, she figured it out and stated her request in the manner required for acknowledgement.

Ugh! So much work!!

I know. I’m sorry for this Monday whine. I got a little more sleep last night than the nights before (I didn’t let myself read at all, lest I become too involved in the book again.) but the coughing going on around here kept me up even if the reading didn’t.

Here’s hoping for a more restful night with less fussing on the part of the mama.