Saturday morning, Sam spoke a phrase I didn't expect to hear out of her mouth for another 6 to 10 years.
She told my husband: "I don't like you."
This, as you can imagine, did not sit well with Daddy. He was trying to be very sweet to her and coax her downstairs for some pancakes so that I could get more than four hours of sleep. And the Sammy Monster Who Must Have Her Own Way just didn't want to go.
Damon had just walked out of the bedroom, carrying her, when she said it. He turned around, brought her back in, dumped onto our bed and said, "Sorry, but that's one I just can't take."
In my stern voice, I told Sam that she had hurt Daddy's feelings very, very badly and made him so sad that he might cry. I asked her how it would feel if Daddy told her he didn't like her.
Sam -- well, Sam was pretty much indifferent. After all, her outrageous outburst got her what she wanted: More time in the room with me.
I told her she needed to apologize to Daddy and give him a kiss because she had been very mean to him. At first she full-out refused, and I told her she could go to her room then and sit in the time-out chair. That, at least made her sidle up to him and plant a weak nonsmooch on his cheek.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
It wasn't even a half-hearted try. It was barely a quarter-hearted. It was just pathetic and even more heartbreaking for my husband.
Somehow, they made up that morning and managed to work it out. I know she's entitled to her opinions, but I can't imagine how I would have felt if she had said that to me instead.
What do you think? Did I react properly? Should I have done more, or should we have ignored it?
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