Shut It Out

No one needed a nap more than me. If children understood the correlation between crankiness and naps then Josie and Owen would have put me to bed hours before their 1pm nap time. But I managed to make it through the lunch hour and only erupted in fits of yelling minutes before Josie and Owen were ready to go to bed. They deserved it of course, as they continued to hit, bite, yell all the way up the stairs and absolutely refused to get in their beds.

"NO BOOKS!" I roared.

"NO SNACK AFTER NAP!" I threatened.

"NO PLAYING WITH ANY TOYS UNTIL TOMORROW!" I shouted.

Josie finally gave up and went into her room while I tried to coax Owen away from his puzzle and into his bed.

Suddenly Josie appeared before me in Owen's room having finally figured out exactly what she wanted to say to me.

"SHUT..IT..OUT" She said.

I was trying so hard not to laugh. "What did you say to me?"

She walked out of the room.

A few seconds later as I was pushing Owen towards his bed I heard her voice again.

"SHUT IT OUT, MOM!"

I couldn't even speak worried that the laughter would escape between the words. She repeated it a few more times and then stopped since she wasn't getting the angry response or the uncontrollable laughter she was hoping for.

I put Owen in bed and closed his door.

I walked into Josie's room and read her a book as quickly as humanly possible to avoid any more outbursts.

As I walked down the stairs and nestled into the cozy corner of couch that had been calling my name all morning, I wondered whether Josie was trying to say, Shut Up or Cut It Out. Because, really, either one would have been completely appropriate had they not been coming from the mouth of a 3 year old.