Emerging Literacy and the Tantrum

S took E biking yesterday before he went to work. The training wheels came off about a month ago, and she's been doing great, but I am not comfortable with the hold-the-back-of-the-bike thing, and S has been...do I even need to say it?...well, maybe there's someone new reading the blog...S has been AT WORK, so she hasn't gotten much of a chance to ride lately. But yesterday morning he was home for a bit, so off they went to the park, and she actually got started on her own twice, and all is well in the biking world, but all was not well when they got home, because usually after biking they stop at the corner store and get a push-up, but since it was only 11 in the morning, that was not in the cards and she was not happy.

Of course S dropped her off, picked up his backpack, gave us each a kiss and headed we-all-know-where, so I got to deal with the hungry-E "I want a push-up NOW!" tantrum, which was quite a spectacular tantrum, especially given that E does not usually tantrum in the kicking, tearing things apart, running out the door, refusing to listen or negotiate kind of way. I told her repeatedly that she was not going to get a push-up, offered to make her scrambled eggs or french toast, carried her kicking and screaming back inside, and then told her that I was going to clean the kitchen, and she should let me know if she wanted anything, to which she responded, "I want a push-up!" I mean, wouldn't you? (Respond that way, not want a push-up.)

I went into the kitchen and had the brilliant (obvious) idea of just putting some food in front of her, so I was cutting melon chunks, when she walked in and put a piece of styrofoam down on the stool. On it she had written "I [heart] YOU."

I put the melon chunks in a bowl, wrote "I [heart] YOU" on a piece of paper, put the bowl and paper on her little table, and went back in the kitchen.

She immediately started eating the melon. A moment later, she came into the kitchen and handed me a piece of paper that said "IAMH." "Does that say 'I am hungry'?" I asked. Yes, it did, and she wanted a pear, so I cut up a pear, wrote "EGGS?" on the piece of paper, and brought her pear and paper.

Her response (written, of course)? "OK."

As I was scrambling eggs, she brought me another piece of paper on which was written "THAYOU." I assume you can decipher that one. And after I gave her the eggs, she brought me yet another piece that said "THAYOU MAM."

She got some play money yesterday, and when she was done with the eggs, she brought me a $100 bill attached to another piece of paper on which was written "100D," and then another $100 bill attached to a piece of paper that said "100ISFORYOU100ISFORI10010" (I myself am a little unclear on the conclusion of that one which could very well be transcribed incorrectly on my part).

Then we lived happily ever after.

(In case anyone has forgotten, she is still five.)