Whirling Dervish
Though pretty, dainty, and seemingly fragile, Paige's personality and nature sometimes did not match her angelic appearance. Strong willed and stubborn, the little girl refused to accept any notion that she could not participate fully in any activity she liked or could not do exactly as she wanted when her little heart desired.
Furthermore, as both the baby and the only girl of four children, Paige felt it necessary to compete with her siblings as often as she felt it necessary to interact with them.
Thus, her four year old determination often led to frustration when others did not automatically include her or grant her wishes and that frustration usually resulted in trouble. When thwarted she tended to stage a meltdown extraordinaire, leading her parents to liken her to a whirling dervish in a tornado.
Stomping her little foot one morning after being corrected for causing a scene over the breakfast menu, she ordered her father crossly, "Don't call me a derbis any more!"
Paul raised an eyebrow. "You do not speak to your mom or dad disrespectfully in this house at any time. Watch out now or you will find yourself punished. This is warning number one for you. Understand?"
Puffing her lip into a pout to reflect her reluctance at obeying, the little girl nodded.
Her father decided to accept the half-hearted reply. "Anyway, remember that a dervish is actually a very religious person and the whirling part comes because the dervishes spin or dance as part of their worship services. It's really just an expression people use."
Paige folded her arms across her chest at the etymology lesson and Paul couldn't suppress a grin. Even angry his daughter managed to look like a blond, hazel eyed pixie. He continued, "So, when you throw yourself into a temper tantrum like you did this morning and you are spinning around and stomping, you do remind me of an unhappy whirling dervish."
Before she could respond to that observation Charlie called from upstairs, "Paige, come up here right now and get dressed. We're going to be late for Mommy's appointment."
"I don't care," the child mumbled irritably.
"Yes you do," Paul contradicted, tilting her chin upwards to make eye contact. "Head upstairs and get dressed, but take care of your behavior before you get to Mommy. Now you just earned yourself strike two. What will the consequence be if you get another correction, a third one?"
Scowling, Paige answered, "Timeout."
"Correct. Let me caution you that you are going to get into some real trouble if you continue this naughty streak, young lady. You have been angry all morning, from the very second you got out of bed."
Placing his broad hands on both of her shoulders Paul swiveled her in the direction of the steps. "March!"
Surprisingly, she followed that directive silently and without a backwards glance.
Paul watched as she negotiated the first few stairs before turning his attention to cleaning up the remains of breakfast.
Paige's disposition continued to deteriorate while tagging along to Charlie's doctor's appointment, a yearly physical which the FBI demanded for employment. Though Charlie's checkup showed she was in perfect health, she couldn't celebrate because Paige whined and complained the entire doctor's visit.
Even at lunch the little girl sulked throughout, annoyed that her mother refused to take her to the toy store as she had requested.
By the time they returned to Graceland Charlie's patience had dwindled and she put her daughter down for a nap an hour earlier than the normal time.
Reveling in the silence during that naptime Charlie made the most of the free minutes and tended to several of the never ending chores that came with parenting four children.
The afternoon looked promising once Paige woke but then her mood digressed once more. She stayed fairly quiet for the first half hour until Charlie discovered Paige had slipped into Johnny's room and helped herself to the Barrel of Monkeys game he had received from Santa.
Charlie levied a timeout at once and insisted upon the immediate return of Johnny's possession, which she accompanied with a reminder of boundaries and respect for other family members.
Even in timeout Paige proved a handful. Charlie reset the timer three times because Paige failed to follow the strict timeout rule of maintaining complete silence.
Once the boys returned from school Charlie devoted her attention to learning about their day and their activities before supervising homework. Excluded from the homework table and annoyed that she was without a playmate for the homework duration, Paige turned her attention to bothering the boys.
Climbing into a chair next to Dale she fell against him when she decided to rest all of her upper body on the table. He sputtered angrily and pushed her away, eliciting yells of outrage from Paige.
When Charlie responded to the ruckus and identified the problem she ordered Paige away from the table. To convey her displeasure with that decision, Paige threw herself onto the floor and drummed her feet against Mike's chair. The kindergartner took offense. "Mommy, she's making my hand shake and it's making me mess up writing my alphabets!"
Charlie leaned down and pushed Paige's legs away from the chair before once again directing her to timeout.
Dale, Johnny, and Mike tried to resume work while Paige loudly protested that she didn't want to go to timeout. Charlie counted to three, crossed the room, delivered four smacks to her daughter's backside, and carried her upstairs to her room.
The boys eyed each other with awe. Rarely did anyone get spanked at Graceland and they were relieved they were not the recipients.
Upstairs Charlie led her little girl to the center of her bedroom and informed her she was confined to her room for the next half hour.
Socially motivated Paige loved to be in the thick of any gathering so banishment to her room usually served as a great way to modify her behavior.
Then over Paige's protests her mother shut the bedroom door firmly and left her to brood.
Paul returned from the agency just as Charlie descended the stairs.
All three boys immediately scrambled from their seats to greet him and he spent several minutes listening to their elaborate accounts of their school day.
In addition, they gleefully updated Paul on their baby sister's defiant behavior and described the subsequent spanking with macabre detail.
Little Mike added excitedly, "She was the dirling werbish like she was at breakfast, Daddy!"
"He meant whirling derbish," Dale corrected.
"It's dermish," Johnny contradicted. "I think."
"It's dervish, but nevertheless, your sister has used up all of her second chances today," Charlie commented. "See what happens when you continue to misbehave?"
Luckily, something finally registered with Paige during the confinement to her room.
When Charlie opened the bedroom door half an hour after she had left her she found Paige sitting sedately on the floor, her favorite doll nestled in her lap. When the little girl discovered her mother she smiled a greeting.
"Ready to come down and join the family? Daddy got home a few minutes ago and wants to see you. He missed you." Charlie tilted her head to indicate Paul was downstairs.
The little girl jumped up immediately. Clutching her doll with one hand she slid the other into Charlie's hand and pulled Charlie towards the stairs. "Let's go, Mommy. I want to tell Daddy I'm finished being the whirring derbis today."
