Maya: Peees? Peees?

She drags me by the hand into the living room, then runs and points at the pantry door.

Me: Hey, look — here’s the rest of your apple slice, and half a glass left of milk!

Maya: Peees?

She’s rubbing her chest (signing “please”) furiously at this point.

Me: Honey, if you’re really that hungry, there’s some perfectly good food sitting right here. Eat that, then if you’re still hungry, we’ll get you something else.

Maya: AAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhMaaaaaameeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Maya throws herself on the floor. I calmly walk back to my office.

A few minutes later…

Maya: (holding the DVD case for Toy Story 2) Peees? Peees?

Me: You’ve had enough TV this morning, Little Pea. Maybe this afternoon you can see that again.

Maya points at the DVD case. I ignore her. She bangs the case on the keyboard tray of my desk, making it nearly impossible to ignore her.

Me: No. Sorry, honey.

I’m beginning to think that parenting is really just about developing a tolerance for screams and a hardened heart toward begging.