Holding onto My Sanity by a Very Small Thread

This is the delightful Harper that makes appearances often enough to keep me from going totally insane. Isn't she sweet? And she looks genuinely thrilled to be alive and wearing those terrific purple stripped pants, thank you very much Auntie Shannon!

Why am I being forced to the edges of sanity, you ask? Take this morning:

Harper whined when put I her on the changing table to take her very wet diaper off. Why would I torture her with dryness?

Harper screamed when I wouldn't let her to continue to pound on my desk with a remote control. (Why have they not yet invented weightless remotes that hover just out of the grasp of all toddlers?)

Harper cried when I put her milk on the table after the umpteenth time she shook it instead of drinking it.

Harper cried more when I showed her I couldn't give her any more yogurt because the container was empty and the yogurt was all gone.

Harper turned red with fury when I put the lid back on the container of apple wheels she was eating. She's no dummy. She realizes that putting the lid back on, or closing the box, or sealing the bag means she isn't getting any more of whatever she was enjoying. Oh the injustice of it all!

To top it all off, she walked over to the door, sat down on the mat, pointed at her coat, and I had the audacity not to put it on and take her somewhere! I don't give into her every whim and this doesn't please the princess but at all.

So I have already put her in front of Elmo and taken a few minutes to vent here. I also closed my eyes and remembered how she patted me when I came home and picked her up after working out yesterday. I remembered how excited she was to see me when I first walked into her room to get her out of her crib this morning (before I tortured her on the changing table). And I remembered how much more other people's children can drive me crazy when I substitute taught yesterday. Those times away from home are very important because they help me remember, despite all the whining and crying and protesting, that this is really the best place to work. . . most of the time!