December 15, 2004 - Wednesday
I've thought this before: Jeremy spent Monday at Larissa's house and, maybe it's just coincidence, but since then he's been acting particularly stubborn at meal times. My theory, and it's just a theory (Jeremy can be plenty stubborn on his own), is that when he's there he watches Cassandra, a charming and somewhat headstrong 4-four-old (is she five yet?) and her mealtime behavior. I've seen her eating just once and don't know if it was her norm, but I can easily imagine her being something of a handful at meal times and thus inspiring Jeremy, probably subconsciously, to come home and try some new types of behavior. I did actually ask Jeremy whether he was trying to be like Cassy and he said "no." But when I asked more generally about her behavior at lunchtime, Jeremy kind of laughed and said she was "silly." Of course, Jeremy's been to their house several times and I'm comfortable with that -- indeed, Jeremy probably needs to go through this sort of stuff from wherever the inspiration comes -- but he sure is a pill when he gets like this. Breakfasts have been particularly annoying so far this week because, unlike dinner when he can sit there as long as he wants, I'm on a schedule to get the boys to school and butting heads with a stubborn little boy just delays things. I keep telling myself the best thing to do is just let him be stubborn, and I keep telling him that it's "his choice to sit at the table or go play with Harry," who has long since finished his breakfast. But as 8:00 approaches and it gets near time to go, I find it harder to stay so calm about it. I know logically that when I don't stay calm he's the one getting the better of me, but practically speaking, I need to get the boys to school and me to work.


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