Meltdown

Ellie's true feelings of Kate reared its ugly head today. "Throw her away!"

I was giving Kate a bath and as usual, Ellie joined in, but not in the sense of helpfulness. She was walking along the edge of the bathtub as if it were a balance beam and she was the gymnast about to give her 10.0 (or now adays 6.0) dismount. All went well until the end of the bath. I asked Ellie to step aside so I could reach Kate and wrap her up in her towel. Then something clicked. Kate started to cry because she was cold so I started to talk to her in a comforting way. This somehow made Ellie upset and she demanded I stop talking to Kate. At this point, both girls were screaming...one feeding the others' hysteria. I was hoping Jae would come out to help, but he was in a meeting.

I headed downstairs to feed Kate before even getting a chance to dress her in hopes of calming down one of my girls, then Ellie wanted me to give her a piggy back ride downstairs. I told her I couldn't because I was holding Kate and she needed to be fed. "Kate's crying cuz she's hungry and cold. Let's feed her first and you can help me get her dressed." More crying. "Ellie, I can't put Kate down and let her cry." Then Ellie said those words. "Throw her away Mom!"

I couldn't believe my ears. By this time, both girls were screaming at the top of their lungs. I went downstairs to feed Kate as Ellie walked down the stairs with me, holding my hand. Things seemed to settle down until Kate finished eating. Ellie burst into tears again which startled Kate and made her cry again. Both kids screaming...tears streaming from both faces. This went on for 20 minutes. All I could do was smile at the situation. I knew if I didn't, I'd lose it.

At the end of the fiasco, Jae found me rocking on the glider half asleep with Ellie on my right and Kate on my left. He relieved me from Kate and we had short talk with Ellie.

What's the lesson in this? Never give Kate a bath while Jae's in a meeting.