Emma and Mamma just wrapped up a week in Marshall with Honey and Papaw, during which time the Little One made history, at least in my mind. It’s one of those stories that we’ll tell long into Emma’s adulthood, something with which we’ll regale Emma’s future children. It’ll probably grow over time, to boot.
So, here’s the story as I recall it (from Ashley, who told me what had happened the other night after I’d drifted off to sleep…)
Emma was having what Ashley deemed was a “DEFCON 10(!!!) Meltdown” that began when the Little One chunked her dinner across the kitchen. That led to a trip to time out, which led to another meltdown and some more time out — so on and so forth. When it was bath time, Ashley put Emma in the tub in the guest bathroom at Honey and Papaw’s house. Now, for those of you who’ve never been to Honey and Papaws, this is one of those tubs that has the sliding glass doors. Those doors can either be fully closed, or they can slide to either side leaving an opening — but there’s never full frontage to the tub.
So standing there in the tub, Little Miss Emma did not want to be bathed. She fidgeted and screamed, letting her mother know she’d have none of that. Emma moved to the left side of the tub, protected by the sliding glass door. So Ashley moved the doors to the right so she could reach Emma. With that, Emma shot back to the right, once again defeating her mother’s advances. This apparently went on for a short bit until Ashley had had enough. Mamma rolled up her pants and stepped into the tub and finished the washing — setting off another meltdown…
Once they finished the bath, Emma bolted from the bathroom, seeking shelter from her oppressive mother. Ashley captured her and returned to the guest bedroom to get Emma dressed for bed. As soon as her two feet were back on the ground, Emma headed toward the door with an intent to thwart her mother’s plans. But Ashley got there first and locked the door so Emma couldn’t leave. The two were now locked in the bedroom safe from attempts of fleeing.
Ashley returned to her spot in the middle of the bedroom and was gathering Emma’s stuff — her nightgown and such — when Emma returned to the door and tried feverishly to open it. The door wouldn’t budge.
“OPEN THE DOOR!!!!” Emma screamed. “LET! ME! OUTTA! HERE!”
She banged her fists against the wooden door.
“LET ME OUTTA HERE!” she continued. “I JUST WANNA BE FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!”
emma is going to spearhead bring back the days of the free flower children . . . except . . . with grit and guts.
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