Näkemiin, Puss!

The last time she threw a tantrum in December, we made a deal that for every instance she complains about having not enough toys or having no one to play with while we are working and then keeps nagging about it and cries–in other words, being difficult–she has to give away one of her toys.

For the next two weeks, during the holiday, she managed to be nice. Probably because she had no school so she was not too exhausted. She seemed to have developed an appetite but still she needed 3-4 hours to finish a meal. Nevertheless, there were no tantrums and no ‘volcanic eruptions’ from my side.

Yesterday she started school again and despite the nap she’s taken after she got home, she started to be difficult again toward the end of the day. Long story short, the minute she cried she realized she had to give away her toy.

And she chose to give away Puss. Not because it’s her least favorite toy, but because it’s her most beloved. After all, she’s a drama princess.

Puss, as shown here, is a cat. It’s a gift from my sister & brother-in-law so you could say Puss came all the way from Finland. It is also a toy that she’s wanted for a long time. When we still lived in Jakarta and went to Bali for holiday she always brought Puss along. Once, she found Puss’s twin at Bali Zoo and insisted I took a picture of her and the cat together so later she could show Puss. Recently she also bought, with her own money, a kitten that looks a bit like Puss and named it Kitty. Both cats sleep with her at night.

Between you and me, I don’t have the heart to actually give Puss away so I just put it in a box (away from her so she wouldn’t look for it) for the time being; hoping that the act of handing it to me would be a good enough lesson. But before bed tonight she asked me if I have given Puss away and said to me that if I haven’t then on Saturday or Sunday we should go and find a homeless kid to whom she would give Puss. Of course she has to go all the way, doesn’t she?

So is this goodbye? I’ll keep you posted.