This morning, Maura was a pill. A feisty, stubborn little snot of a pill. Yes, even my little sweetcakes who has a smile for everyone can give me a hard time once in a while.
The morning started off well, or so I thought. Maura woke up easily, and of course, hopped into my bed. Granted, her nose was stuffed up to the gills, but otherwise, she was happy and smiling and awake. My first clue that this was going to be one of those mornings was when she kept sticking her feet into my face when I put her pants on.
*yes, I still dress her. She still can’t get her shirt on, and some days, I don’t have 15 minutes to watch as she puts pants on.
So, once dressed, we roamed downstairs. Fixed her beloved Cheese for lunch (aka mac and cheese). Then I tried to give her some medicine. And so the games began.
First, I grabbed the elderberry syrup – yeah, I know, hippie stuff, but I swear, it works! I poured it into the little measured cup that came with it and turned to give it to her. I was met with a “No!” and her turning her head, lips clamped shut. After a couple minutes of me trying to get her to drink it, then me trying to get her to hold it and drink it herself without spilling it over her shirt, I handed the cup to her and said “Drink this.”
Maura has taken this before, and liked it. Maura takes any kind of medication without blinking. She even sometimes complains when someone else gets medicine and she doesn’t. So this had nothing to do with taking medication, this was her being stubborn.
So there she stood with this tiny cup. I said “Drink it up!” She looked at me, eyed the cup…and then pretended to drink it! Not once, but like three times. And while a small part of me was impressed that she’s smart enough to try to trick me, the majority of me was not amused. I decided to give up on the elderberry syrup, we were running out of time. I grabbed the stuffy nose medication and the measuring spoon and filled it up. “Here, take this.” I said.
Once again, greeted with a “No!” and a face turn and little clamped lips. “It’s medicine.” I said. Still a no-go. I pulled my stern and unamused voice out. “Open your mouth and take this!” Maura must have decided she was pushing her luck, as she finally opened her mouth.
At this point, the clock announced the obvious – Maura wasn’t making it on to the bus. Great. Miriam barely made it herself, but I got her out the door and only had to deal with Maura (who thank you God, didn’t scream hysterically when the bus left without her. Maura loves riding the bus.)
Now, it’s just me and her….if I can find her. Every time I turned around, Maura had wandered away. At one point, she went upstairs. I called to her and she came to the landing upstairs. I told her to come down, and the girl had the audacity to act as if she was sooooo unstable and afraid to let go of anything to even make it to the first step and put a hand out, reaching towards me with a “Help me! I’m so afraid and insecure about going down those steep, scary stairs.” Meanwhile, the mama at the bottom of the stairs didn’t feel like hiking up the stairs to fetch the drama princess. However, the mama did haul herself up the stairs to grab said drama princess and march her down the stairs.
And so on, and so forth.
Needless to say, when I got her to school, I warned her aide and wished her luck. I have a feeling Maura’s going to make her earn that paycheck today!

