"I want DADDY!"

Todd was recently in Denver for a conference with some of the middle and high school social studies teachers in our town, and Marley was beside herself while he was gone. He is, unquestionably, her favorite. Sometimes, this makes me want to bang my head against a wall after an entire bottle of red wine. Although, I would probably be mellow enough after the wine that I wouldn't need to give myself a head injury. And actually, I feel as though I should erase that last sentence because I'm all about keeping my brain okay. This weekend I put the creamer in the cabinet with the mugs instead of where it belongs in the refrigerator, and I worried about it for a while. I still think about it. Is that being busy and absentminded, or do I need to get on the Aricept, like, pronto?

Anyhow, a few short hours after I wrote about a sweet and precious moment Marley and Rudy shared while Beanie had blood drawn, Todd was presenting at a school committee meeting and therefore missing dinner and bedtime, and Marley and I had a screaming fight that went like this:

Me: "Just have a few more bites. You can decide how many you need to be healthy."

Marley: "NONE!"

Me: "You need more than that. You can decide, but if you can't, I'll choose for you, and I choose...seven."

Marley: "That's too much! [whine, whine, moan, moan] I only want you to say one bite of each thing."

Me, scoping out her plate: "Okay. That's fine. One bite of each thing. Four bites."

Marley: "NO! Don't say four bites! Say one bite of each thing!"

Me, starting to lose it: "Okay. [sigh] One bite of each thing."

Marley: [whimper, whine, moan, complain]

Me, following through on an earlier promise: "Marley, I'm not going to listen to you whine. Go to your room and calm down. Forget the bites."

Marley: "Noooooo!"

Me, eventually: "GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

Moments later, Marley screaming and crying at the top of the stairs: "I WANT DADDY! [hiccup] DADDY! [wail, scream] I want DAD-DEEEEEEE!"

Me: [really needing a glass of red wine (Don't worry. Honestly, just one glass.)]

I know that Todd is a hot commodity because he's scarce, especially after four days spent across the country. And I know that I'm Boring Old Mommy who follows through on the rules and establishes the routines and is uptight by nature anyways. But I still had an angry little heartache for those moments when I was clearly unwanted, probably even hated, by my Bean. And I know it will get worse as she gets even older. I started reading Queen Bees, way early, I know, after I heard Tina Fey talk about with with Andy Cohen in a recent interview, and. Oh boy.

On the bright side, at least Rudy and I are still in the picture Marley drew for Todd upon his homecoming. And I like that in her recent renditions of us, we always have our hands raised like we're witnessing in a tent revival.