The Morning Routine Rhumba

"Good morning, Sprite."

The switch flicks to flood the room with color and shows a small body huddled underneath her green blanket, head tucked under as she tries to hide from the light.

"Sprite sleeping. Good night, Mommy." She tries to make herself smaller, but seems to have reached her limit.

"No, sweets. It's morning. Time to get up." I pull back her blanket which sparks a grumble from the mass.

"No, blanket on me." Her hands reach back behind her for the telltale feel of cotton while her head stays locked in an embrace with her chest.

"I have a pink outfit all ready for you." Singing the suggestion doesn't help as she turns to glare at me from under her mop of hair.

"I sleeping, Mommy. Go way."

I sit down on her floor, proof that I am not heeding her advice. "Sprite, it's time to get up. Your daddy is making your pancake."

At the mention of her beloved pancake, her feet swing over and she twirls out of bed to stand before me, ready for a diaper refresher. As soon as I finish the first transaction and take her nightgown off, she dances away, out of arm's reach.

"Sprite, come back here and get dressed."

She smiles, unconvinced that nudity is not on today's schedule.

"Sprite, come here." I point to the floor in front of me. "Here!" I repeat, locking eyes with her.

"Can I help you?"

I balk. "Excuse me?"

"Can I help you?" she asks again. Her grin is even wider, her eyes sparkle more. She knows that until I move from where I sit, she is in control. (She also knows I tend not to move from my spot this early in the morning. She's good.)

Recovering, I point to the floor again. "Yeah, you can help me. By coming over here!"

She smiles and twirls, still out of reach.

"Or no pancake," I add, tossing in an ultimatum for effect.

She dances over, letting me win this battle.

As soon as I have her clothed, she asks, "Pancake?", smiling at me.

"First we brush our teeth."

She twirls away again.

And the dance continues..

We would get this done a lot quicker if the kid would let me lead. (For once.)

Comments

[Julie]

Oh crap what am I in for?! I just bout fell over when my 17 mo old said Un-UH. In case I didn't type that right, that is the negative form, with all of the attitude on the second syllable. "Can I help you?" - now that is a riot!

[Jan]

Ah, she's a strong-minded young lady, isn't she?

I have no idea where she gets it from. :P

[Kyooty]

sounds like a good start to the day, she's definitely awake.

[jenni]

aw, mom, you need to let her have a naked day :)

[Mama Badger]

Think of it as quality time that she's forcing on you. At least once she's out of bed she's really awake, right? Wait until she's a teenager and getting her out of bed is an olympic event.

[bex]

mmmm.... pancake. tell him to make an extra one and i'll be over in about 15 hours.

[Lisa (Jonnysmommy)]

Jonathan gets like this in the morning only he clings to me and whimpers and groans and says "Go way!" I don't like that this is one of the first phrases he uttered about six months ago.

[Casey]

It must be the age because Graham has been pulling that same "I'm sleeping" bit first thing in the morning too. This is after he wails for us to come and get him from his room. Pancakes are a good bargaining chip!

[Baba]

"I Hope you have a daughter just like you" Your Baba use to say it to me. I don't think I said that to you but I know I though it. You should do fine with sprite...just think back to what you did and you will have a jump start at what ever she throws at you.lol...(place a nasty laugh here)

[Stacy (the Random Cool Chick)]

Oh I LOVE that she said "Can I help you?" I'm rolling over here! :) Oh, and the dance will continue on...Princess Nagger does that even at 6...I still haven't gotten the lead part yet. ;)

[Jenni Jiggety]

I appreciate a kid who likes to SLEEP!

[Robin]

Well, at least she's polite! ;)

[bessie.viola]

I love this. If she won't let you lead, at least you'll always have the threat of a pancake-less day. ;)

[K]

Gotta love the morning dance.

They caught on so fast don't they?

[Maureen at IslandRoar]

OMG, I laughed Very out loud at that one. She is a pistol. It's like what they say about the baby dinosaurs: it's a good thing they were so cute or their parents would've left them or eaten them.
Our kids are so adorable so they might live to torment us another day.
Thanks for the grins.

[Pseudo]

Nothing like a girl that can go from sleepy to having a little fun in just a few minutes.

[Petra aka The Wise (Young) Mommy]

Sounds a lot like our morning routine! They never, ever let us lead...sigh.

[aussiechic]

HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OMG that is hysterical....where do they learn this stuff????? Oh you are in soooooooooooooo much trouble.............I am still laughing by the way.....

[Rachel]

ah yes....the dance....it's more like the cha cha at our house. 3 steps forward, 3 steps back. Thank heavens their Papa comes to our house or I would never get to work on time!

[The Redhead Riter]

Visiting from SITS...Let her get her "naked days" out of the way while she's young...LOL

[cyndi]

OK, I must know how you get her to want to stay in bed...I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've had to wake mine....grrr. Hoping they'll catch up as teens ;-) Thank you, as ever, for the funny!

[Maureen at IslandRoar]

Hey, I'm posting an award Monday morning, part of which goes to you. I know you might be crazy busy and not able to deal with it, so don't sweat it. Just wanted you to know I'm enjoying "knowing you" a little thru this blogging business!