day the second

Well, its been a busy long day. It is 10:25 at night, little sister and big brother are both in bed, and my princess is still watching tv on her computer. I should lay the law down and turn the computer off....in fact. that is what I will do this second.

Ok, so I didn't. I turned the lights off, the volume down. I didn't turn the computer off. Harmony was lying in bed with the dog, and yelled "nooooooo"   so I didn't. This, unfortunately, is a pattern.

The day began okay; Harmony is actually quite less grumpy and more cooperative than her sister or brother first thing in the morning. Which means when you ask her to get up and take a bath, she actually gets up and takes a bath.

While getting ready for school, I tried to engage in conversation about her afterschool arts program, which was having an open house this evening. It went like this.

"What art are you showing at tonight's program?"
"I don't know."
What art do you think you might be showing at tonight's program?"
"I don't know."
"What kinds of art have you done in class, that I might see tonight.
"I don't know."

Then she took a lunch bag of food from the fridge. I was going to let her get away with it. Not so Mom, who insisted on seeing it. It had a prepackaged chicken ceasar salad with her name/label taped on it. And apples, and a container of raspberries. "You can't have all of this." my wife exclaimed. Harmony yelled and bewailed, but eventually settled for just the salad.

My wife wants to lock the kitchen. My princess is constantly raiding and taking food, which we then find, half eaten, in her room or the living room. Tonight she was raising apples, and asking me to peel an orange. She rejected my first orange; it was peeled in the wrong way. Food is an ongoing issue with us.

It is eleven oclock. My wife is home from work. Harmony is ....sleeping. I turn the computer off. I find it easier to do such things when my princess is asleep.