Little Miss Independence

This afternoon we all went to the 4:00pm Mass, since I have to work tomorrow morning. All in all the girls were fairly well behaved, and we strolled out into the parking lot after the closing song, chatting about what to have for dinner. And then it happened. Amy decided that she needed to zipper up her jacket by HERSELF. This is not a skill that she has conquered. But we let her attempt it. We waited. And we waited. Erin started to whine. Beth started getting irritable. I looked around and realized that the entire parking lot was empty. That's when we decided to use that all-important parental authority, and intervene. Dan explained that we really needed to go home now. And then...he reached over and zipped up the jacket.

Well. We knew what would come next, but I don't think we were quite prepared for the magnitude of the explosion.

"No!!! Me!!!" she screamed. "I can do it myself!!" She crumpled to the concrete, arms and legs flailing, trying desperately to unzip the jacket. Dan scooped her up and plopped her into the car seat, and home we went.

If you're looking for us tomorrow, we'll be busy working on zippering. But we'll do it in the comfort of our home. Not in the church parking lot. And next week, maybe she'll be able to do it all by herself.