Skirmishes and Rebellions
Tony's eyes narrowed, having caught the answer before the door fully engaged. An immediate response would be to yank the door right back open and deal with the child right then. However, his common sense overruled the notion. The confrontation could wait until they got home, when Tony calmed and dealt with the little sinner from a better perspective.
Still, one truth that existed throughout his childhood involved timing, or most explicitly, immediate responses. Once aware of unacceptable behavior, his dad had invariably addressed the indiscretion at once, even if it meant just uttering a promise of an upcoming, unpleasant tete a tete.
Tony pursed his lips as he slid into the driver's seat. As he cranked the car, he met Levi's gaze in the rear view mirror. Leaning around the seat he directed firmly, "The minute we get home, Levi, you go straight to your room. I plan to deal with the fact that you just spoke disrespectfully, by backtalking me, and that you dawdled and took your time while everyone had you to thank for the delay in leaving."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned his attention to reversing from the parking space.
By the time the family re-entered the house, Tony's priorities centered around corralling everyone and sending them to change into play clothes before eating lunch and readying the little ones for naps.
Pointing towards the bedroom the boys shared, Tony repeated his directive to Levi, whose bravado had disappeared somewhere on the drive between church and home.
When Tony and Elijah entered to switch outfits, Levi eagerly showed Tony that he had already put on shorts and a shirt, complying with the daddy's wish. Complimenting him for obeying, Tony quickly stripped Elijah and had the younger boy dress himself while he dealt with protecting the child's church outfit.
A couple of minutes later the two of them left Levi sitting at the desk, managing to look both worried and forlorn at the same time.
With five year old intensity, Ava had attempted to help Vivienne into another outfit, but the baby had proved less than cooperative. Apparently she found the fancy dress to her liking, so she shrieked any time Ava moved to unbutton or undress her.
Assessing the crisis, Tony raised his eyebrows and pointed his finger firmly at Vivienne. "Young lady, that had better be the last time I hear you shriek like that." His tone of voice, along with his body language, halted the toddler and she froze in place, not certain how to proceed.
Tony bragged on Ava for changing by herself and for putting up her own clothes before sending her to the breakfast room to join Elijah.
Grinning at the praise, she skipped down the hall.
"Come here, Vivi," he motioned, smiling as she moved from the floor where she had thrown herself to stand and toddle to Tony.
She let her fingers dangle from her mouth, unsure of her reception and whether she required fortitude and additional security.
He pursed his lips, then leaned down and simulated smacking kissing noises, instantly eliciting gales of giggles from her.
Grabbing the tiny body against him, he swung her above him to fly through the air, then let her gently land onto the floor.
Taking advantage of the distraction, he quickly unbuttoned her dress and pulled it over her head before engaging in his next step. Thinking as a seasoned parent with an obstinate toddler, he hurriedly moved it out of her immediate sight.
Her brow furrowed anyway, and prior experience told him a toddler tantrum loomed if he failed to distract her yet again.
"Where is the play dress with the polka dots?" Tony quizzed excitedly, searching the surface of the room. "It has the cute bow we like shaped like a ladybug. Can you find it for us, my girl?"
Vivienne pulled at her hair and frowned thoughtfully, then peered around the room.
"What will we do," he questioned, appearing confused and sad, "if my baby has no polka dotted dress to wear for the rest of the day?"
Rubbing the back of her hair, she set out on an investigation, toddling around the room's perimeter, and located the frock right by her crib. Snatching it like a prize, she rushed back and babbled an explanation, thrusting it out for Tony to take from her.
He smirked. There was more than one way to skin a cat!
Minutes later he slipped her into her high chair and sent for the other two to join them. Ava and Elijah settled quickly and he handed out sandwiches and milk before fetching a plate and glass and carrying them to Levi, who regarded his appearance warily.
Observing the seven year old, the newly christened father concluded that he was very much worried about the punishment.
Tony waited for the little boy to take a couple of bites before he settled himself at the end of Ethan's bed and leaned forward to regard him.
"Why did I punish you by sending you to your room this afternoon, Levi?"
The little boy stayed silent, allowing a tear which slid down his cheek to provide an excuse to his reluctance to respond.
Tony persisted, though, feeling it important that he make the child engage in some self reflection before Tony took over the conversation. "Levi," he stressed the syllables very deliberately, "Levi, I want an answer from you, and I want that answer from you right now."
Before he responded, the child slid back in his seat, his little shoulders aligning themselves against the back of the chair. "I talked back," the boy admitted softly. "I talked back to you and was not polite."
His little fingers twisted at the end of his napkin.
"Correct, you did that," Tony confirmed. "You were both disrespectful and rude. What else did you do?"
"I wouldn't come when you said so." The admission came out barely more than a whisper.
Tony felt a bit of pride that even in the face of unpleasant consequences, the little fellow remained honest.
"Anything else?" Tony prodded.
That time, the little boy met Tony's gaze before shaking his head no, and Tony almost melted at the hurt and defeated expression. A week's worth of parenting steeled him, however, and he raised his eyebrows and spoke decisively.
"Look at me."
Levi did, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"I want you to take a second and think about how your afternoon would have turned out happier if you had chosen a more acceptable reaction at the church." Pursing his lips, Tony inclined his head towards the boy.
More shifting followed, and Tony waited patiently for the soul searching to end.
Finally, a small voice offered, "I said I did wrong. I told the daddy."
"That you did, and the problems you have brought onto yourself come from the decisions you made to not obey me the first time, combined with an even worse decision to backtalk me. I promise you that any time you decide to conduct yourself the way you chose today, I will respond with a punishment just as I am going to do now."
Levi nodded, and a couple of fat tears began to slide right over the dimpled cheek, but gathered force as he listened to his punishment.
"So, since you chose the path of disobeying me, you are banished to your room for the next hour, and will not have the pleasure of playing outside with the rest of us after lunch finishes. That translates to you may not leave this room unless I have explicitly given you permission to do so. Now am I clear about your punishment and my expectations, Son?"
Scrubbing at the tears, Levi whispered miserably, "I didn't want to be bad at all for the daddy. I tried to be good for a long, long time."
Tony stood up and stretched before kissing the top of the child's head. "Of course you didn't plan to be bad. Your mistake was not stopping yourself when you felt yourself making the wrong decisions after church."
He left the child, wanting Levi to spend some time mulling over what had been said to him.
Ava, Elijah, and Vivienne had finished their lunches, and after enlisting their help in cleaning the lunch remains, they all burst into the backyard. Tony felt strongly that children needed good doses of physical action and activity every day, and already had the children view outdoor leisure as something desirable.
They played together a good half hour before en masse they began to droop in the hot sun. Once indoors everyone took turns drinking water and using the restroom before Tony proclaimed rest time.
Despite their protests to the contrary, they were obviously tired, and it amused him watching them drop into sleep one by one within ten minutes.
Smiling as they were defeated in fighting sleep, he shook his head at such automatic resistance to the notion of enjoying an afternoon siesta.
Nap time- what parent didn't appreciate it, and what parent didn't want to join his kid in a midday respite to dreamland?
The lure of an hour to recharge and rest alone without a small body sliding in beside him tempted him. Much delicious freedom existed in sprawling across a mattress unconcerned about the possibility of someone wetting the bed. The fantasy truly proved enticing.
No, though, more than sleep he needed some peace and quiet to organize his thoughts for the upcoming hours and days.
In exactly one week and a day his oldest three would begin kindergarten, second grade, and fourth grade, and that same day would usher in his own opening day as an instructor at the nearby Navy School.
In two days, Tuesday around lunchtime, the elementary school would host Parent Orientation, with the expectation that parents would attend a school wide presentation, discover what school supplies the kids needed, and receive a brief but explanatory introduction to the school's teachers and routines.
Luckily he had already taken care of personally presenting records to the school's registrar, and breathed a sigh of relief when she informed him that all immunizations were up to date and the paperwork sufficient.
She enrolled them, easing the worry in the back of his mind that somehow the kids would have their past come back to haunt them through some type of data entry.
Nevertheless, he had yet to tackle school clothes and school supplies, times three, which he would appreciate only after the orientation. Privately he had hoped the school required uniforms, thus making his shopping far easier. Unfortunately, that possibility did not even lurk on the horizon.
He shuddered. How many separate items of clothing would the three of them need just for one routine week of school? In addition, how would he know when he shopped which clothing items ranked as ones the school system deemed appropriate for its students? The last thing he would need would be a phone call from the school demanding he pick one of them up because of inappropriate clothing.
Monday- Tony exhaled dramatically when he realized the next day was Monday. He had scheduled interviews with four applicants for the available nanny position. As capable and accommodating as Daphne had proved as a sitter, she had been upfront from the beginning that her university classes took priority to her babysitting work. In answer to his plea, though, she graciously promised that she would see them through the upcoming days, and assured Tony that he could count on her to babysit on occasion.
His hope centered upon hiring a loving, trustworthy employee who could take wonderful care of the youngest two, as well as tackle some of the housework during the day. Once he began work full time it worried him that he would find it impossible to stay ahead of laundry, cleaning, cooking, and child rearing.
How did for-real parents shoulder it day after day? Even more stunning, how did single parents survive?
In his heart of hearts he agonized over walking out of the door and leaving Elijah and Vivienne behind, tormented by the thought that they would view it as yet another devastating abandonment through their innocent perspectives.
At their age, eight hours equated to eight years without him.