Dinner with the kids is usually pretty nice.  The girls tell us a little bit about their day, or at least Claire does.  Molly usually doesn’t remember much about the day and sometimes thinks we are having lunch instead of dinner.  She has no idea what day of the week it is.  She really lives in the moment.

Tonight, dinner was a challenge, sort of a throwback to Molly’s toddler days.  Molly convinced herself that she did not like her cheese pizza.  She objected that it had too much sauce on it, actually any sauce at all.  Eventually Molly worked herself up into a full-blow fit, crying loudly, holding up a limp slice of pizza and pointing at the  sauce on it.  I reminded Molly the she had enjoyed lots of pizza with sauce on it just like that before, but of course logic would not help right then.

Claire got agitated by Molly’s loud fussing and yelled, “What are you crying for!?!”, like a parent at her wit’s end.  This, of course, made Molly more agitated and loud.  Meanwhile, Claire was on this kick about choking.  She kept asking, “Am I choking?” and “Did I chew this enough?”  I told her that if you’re talking, you’re not choking.  So she would say to herself, “I’m not choking.” throughout dinner as she ate and Molly continued to cry.  Craving some somber music, I had The Joshua Tree on but had to kill it; it was only adding to the cacophony.

Recently, Kit’s work hours have made it tough for her to get home in time for dinner.  By the time Kit got home, everything had calmed down.  Molly had collected herself and was enjoying some salad with ranch dressing but was still red and splotchy from crying.  Kit said Molly looked hot.  Claire and I said in unison that Molly had been crying.  Molly asked us to please not talk about it.  She was a little embarrassed from crying, which I guess is the difference between a four-year-old and a three-year-old.  Molly would go a little crazy later at bedtime too, but she ended up falling asleep with a stomach full of pizza which had she eventually remembered that she liked after all.