Patience
Holly08 asked for a oneshot of Emma having a tantrum so this is set should the curse never have happened.
"NO!" Emma screamed, stamping her foot. Snow sighed in frustration, when Emma was in this sort of mood there was just no reasoning with her.
"Emma Ruth." Charming said, fighting to keep his voice low. "Don't you dare be so rude to your mother and I." Emma flung herself onto the floor and kept screaming, bashing her fists off the ground. She really didn't want to do her lessons this morning.
"Emma, if you want to be a big girl and learn to read your own books you have to go." Snow tried to coax her. Emma loved books, and really wanted to be able to read them by herself. But the process wasn't as quick as she wanted. Emma expected to be able to go to school one day and she would be able to read. When she realised it was going to be a bit more time before she could read she wasn't happy. Snow's coaxing had no effect. Emma was still throwing her tantrum. Then she started bashing her head off the floor too.
"Ok, that's enough." Charming said, picking her up. Emma tried to push away from him, but he was too strong. "No, Emma. You can't bash your head off the floor, it's dangerous." She was still flailing around in his grasp, but Charming didn't want to put her down otherwise she'd just start bashing her head again. He rocked with her slightly. "Come on, calm down now. It's ok." It took some time but eventually Emma did begin to calm down. She stopped flailing around and was just crying into her dad's shoulder.
"Baby why are you so upset?" Snow asked, coming over and rubbing Emma's back.
"I-I-I want to read!" She wailed.
"Oh honey I know. And you will soon, I promise. You're getting there. You know lots of letter sounds now don't you? That's how you learn to read. I know it's a lot slower than you want, but I'm afraid it just takes time." Charming cuddled Emma close. Neither of them liked it when she cried.
"Promise?" Emma whimpered.
"I promise." Snow confirmed. It wouldn't be long before Emma's tutor gave Emma her first book to practice with. The smile on her face would be worth it all.