Kid tantrums while exhausted are the equivalent of love confessions while drunk.  You can’t believe either one.  Nobody takes them seriously.  Just listen and laugh.  And it’s good to always have a video camera handy.

Piper fell asleep in the car today and woke up in time to meet the new babysitter we were auditioning.  It wasn’t pretty.  Piper was disoriented and angry about the waking up part. Then there was a stranger at her door. The babysitter, however, was awesome.  She came with a stuffed bag of goodies like Mary Poppins.  She asked the girls all the right questions.  Piper took one look at the babysitter’s smile and threw herself on the ground crying. “Why do my parents always leave me alone?” she wailed. We haven’t had a date night in six months.  This was a one hour coffee break.  I peeled Piper off the floor, slung her over my shoulder, and took her to her room.  It’s okay to throw a fit in our house.  If you feel it, fine.  Just do it in your room behind closed doors. Through Piper’s door I could hear her add insult to injury, “That babysitter doesn’t even look like an adult!”  True.  She did look young, but she came highly recommended and we’re a little desperate around here. Piper’s fit ended as quickly as it began.  She swung her bedroom door open and grabbed the babysitter’s hand. We didn’t even get a good-bye wave.

An hour later when we returned Piper declared the new babysitter her best friend.  “Why do my parents always ruin my fun?” she complained loudly as we came in the door.  Clearly, we’d arrived just in time for bed.

Here’s a logging of complaints following a tantrum due to her father’s clearly unreasonable insistence on brushing her hair.  Be sure to watch until the end so you can see Piper’s version of perfectly coiffed hair.