Brooklyn has a response for us whenever we tell her no. She says, "I DO! I DO!" Not, yes or please, just an emphatic I DO! To let us know that in spite of what we don't want her to do, she does! Or on the flip side, she also says, I DON'T, I DON'T! For example, "Brooklyn, you can't have that book." Her response, "I DO! I DO!" It's amusing ...until you want to pull your hair out. And in case you think my little girl is perfect, she isn't. Just today, she had a meltdown of monumental proportions. I finally couldn't take it any more. I took her by the hand, led her into the foyer and then pointed to the line formed by the hardwood floors meeting our breakfast room tile floor and said, "See this line? DO NOT CROSS IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE UNLESS YOU HAVE STOPPED CRYING." I was sure this would be a command issued in futility, but she seemed to get it. She stood just on the other side of the line and bawled and wailed (no, not for any good reason) while I calmly walked away to finish making her macaroni and cheese. After several minutes of my ignoring her and her continued squalling, I heard some loud snuffling noises and hiccups, followed by the pattering of little feet and the scrape of chair legs against the tile as she pulled out a chair for herself in the breakfast room. I couldn't believe it worked. I was about to lose my mind.

Thankfully, a tummy full of macaroni and cheese followed by a nap seemed to lift the cloud following her around, and by association, me. Trust me, Hurricane Gustav or Ivan or whoever has nothing on Hurricane Brooklyn. I could have watered the whole street with the tears spurting from her eyes and shaded the neighborhood with the dark look on her face. Praise God for naptime.