It’s You or Me Kid

It’s you or me kid
It’s you or me

I thought
As once again
She raised the play dough to her mouth
Glaring at me with steely eyes
Stuck her tongue out as far as she could
And with the determination and defiance of a strong willed 2 year old
She licked away

It’s you or me kid
It’s you or me

I thought
As I walked sternly toward her now satisfied and cocky demeanor
Taking each piece of play dough away
While saying
This is bad for your tummy
You are done with the play dough for now
It is going back

Piece by piece I placed the play dough back in their individual canister
While the blood curdling screams intensified
With each removal in this symbolic dance

It’s you or me kid
It’s you or me

She began to kick and hit
Scream even louder
While I said
You need to stop the kicking and hitting of the high chair you are in
Or you are getting down

No, No, No
Scream, Scream, Scream
Kick, Hit, Kick, Hit

I walked over
Took the table top off the chair
Firmly placed her upon the ground

NO, NO, NO
SCREAM, SCREAM, SCREAM
KICK, HIT, KICK, HIT

Go ahead and cry
Go ahead and scream
Let me know when you are done
I’ll be right over here
Waiting for you to be done

I stood back and witnessed
Never taking my eyes off her for a second
As she let it all out
And I loved her from a distance

NO, No, no
SCREAM, Scream, scream
KICK, Hit, kick, hit

Her little body felt all that it needed to feel
My body stayed strong yet loving and waiting

Slowly she walked over
Placed her head in my lap
Wrapped her arms around my waist

I received her with love and acceptance
Nothing more needed to be said
Nothing more needed to be done
The stand off was over
It was time for re-connection

I gently rubbed her back
Caressed her face
As we melted into one another

Time went by
Until there was no longer the feeling of

It’s you or me kid
It’s you or me

Instead it became so crystal clear

It’s us kid
We got this

Now let’s go play