Penelope and the Terrible, Awful, No-Good, Very Bad Day

I have to get this all down because it is both tragic and humorous, sad and pathetic.

I should really start this at yesterday. Yesterday Penelope did not nap, which happens occasionally, and is never a good sign for either the evening or the next day. So when the evening passed without incident I should have prepared myself for one whopper of a day today. But I didn't.

Today is play-group Wednesday at Kim's and it started off well. Penelope insisted on bring her Jessie doll with an equal insistence on not sharing said Jessie doll. Considering how much she loves that thing (as evidenced by multiple blog posts on the subject) I should not have been surprised about what was to occur next, but I was.

I actually succeeded in hiding the doll for awhile. But I didn't hide her very well because after lunch, which Penelope didn't eat much of, and which she only agreed to sit down to after crying about the swing, the doll was found. Only not by Penelope.

So Penny immediately goes to reclaim her precious and I decide that the doll just needs to be put up. If you can't share your toys, then they "take a nap" until you can either share them or you're at home without any friends over. Otherwise, to hoard a toy, is just a little rude and that's not the kind of manners I wish to teach my children.

But oh, that did not go over well.

Crying, crocodile tears, screaming, and general tantrum behavior ensued. She got so worked up she couldn't stop and then everything was tragic. She couldn't find Sally (from the movie Cars) = more tears. Orson was playing with his hobby horse (which Penelope calls 'Bullseye') = more tears. And then she started crying because she was crying.

After about 10 straight minutes of crying I decided that we were done playing for the day and we just needed to go home, because my goodness, someone needed a nap!

Diaper change = more crying.

She asks for strawberries, she gets one, bits the inside of her cheek = more crying

She slips on the carpet and falls = more crying

I think she may have cried for 20 minutes straight.

When we left (still clutching the Jessie doll as if her life depending upon it) it had started to rain. It was still sunny, but the sky was peppered with big, black, stormclouds and as we race out to the car she's sobbing, getting rained on, and we bonk heads = more crying.

After everyone is settled and we're on our way home she stops crying and quietly says "Mommy, take nap please. Mommy, Jessie take nap too. Can Penelope have binky please?"

Poor thing. She ran to her room when we walked in the door and promptly fell asleep. I hope she wakes up in a better mood.

I have to admit that during this drama I had to laugh. I tried not to, but it was so pathetic, so utterly over the top, that I could not stop a few giggles from escaping. She was obviously so exhausted, overly emotional, and maybe even a little hormonal - can 2 year old girls be hormonal?

I don't know. But what I do know is that she is in no way ready to give up naps. Not by a long shot.

My poor Poe.