Not Today, Mimi

One afternoon this week I stopped by the daycare to pick up my granddaughter, Toots, so we could spend some time together. 99.9% of the time she is excited about seeing me and going to my house. Well, not that day. She wouldn't come when called. I signed her out, took her to the car, where she smarted off and said she wanted her mommy to pick her up. So I took her back into the daycare. It was not pleasant for either of us. When mommy picked her up, they had a long talk. Mommy told her that she was rude to her Mimi and that she could not see her for a week. (This has worked as a persuader for good behavior in the past.) Again, Toots was not effected by it. Yesterday, because of conflict with work schedule, mommy asked me to pick up Toots from daycare. When I walked in the room, Toots ran to me, promptly put on her coat, and walked out hand-in-hand with me, talking all the way. Her eyes searched my face for a clue to my thoughts/mood. She told me that she just knew I was coming to get her even though mommy said it would be a week. And Toots asked for me to take her to her favorite Mexican restaurant since she hadn't been there in a week. I already had plans to go there, and it was necessary to take her with me, but would have been more effective if I didn't. Perhaps our family will need to do more reading on the strong-willed child. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Toots was the subject of the book.