Worth It

I had an argument with Ian last night.

He wanted to get his own cup of water from the bathroom sink. I had just put a new band-aid on his hand, and I didn't want him to get it wet, so I got him the cup of water.

OOOOOHHHHHhhhhh, was there a fit. Crying, carrying on, the most desperate whining you have ever heard. He wandered all around the house looking for his stepstool, sobbing the whole way, brought it back to the bathroom, dumped out the water that I had gotten, turned on the faucet, and promptly splashed his new band-aid. New crying now because he's upset that his band-aid is wet!

At this point, I had gone into his room to turn on his music, select a bedtime story, and turn on the light. When he realizes that I've done all this, another, better, bigger tantrum ensues because he also wanted to do these things.

I sat in the rocking chair and told him to tell me when he was done throwing a fit so I could read him a story. Thirty seconds later, he wipes his tears and says, "I'm all done with my fit now, Mommy!"

He climbs onto my lap, and I talk to him about letting people help him sometimes, and how he doesn't always have to do things by himself (good luck with this, right?). I looked at him and said, "Baby, you had a huge fit, crying, screaming, carrying on, all because you wouldn't let Mommy help you get a drink of water. Now, was that really worth it?"

He looks at me with a completely straight face, eyelashes still wet from tears, and replies, "Yes."

*sigh*