The Van Vleets

It was a nice and warm summer evening and the girls and I were all having fun outside. I was at the patio table reading. Halle, Dee, and Gracie were finding ways to entertain themselves with the grass, the flowers, the playset. All was well.

Until…

I hear this blood-curdling scream coming from the playset. Now a piercing sound like this coming from any other child would definitely stir fear into the hearts of a nearby parent. Signals would be sent to their brain. Instincts would prompt them to act NOW and come to the rescue of whatever danger is evoking such a cry of distress. But with Halle, her high decibel shrills have a proven track record of amounting to nothing more than a little bit of sensed unpleasantness. We try and try to work with her to help her understand that her level of reaction MUST have a true correlation to the level of physical or mental suffering. But it is of no avail, still she screams. A dirty look from her sister, a bump on her leg, hurt feelings, spilled milk, being told, ‘no’, a paper cut; all these minor offenses warrant, in her book, a scream.

So when I hear Halle cry out this time, of course I respond in a nonchalant manner because I thought for certain (like usual…) nothing was really the matter.

Baby, what happened?
BEEEEEEEEES!!!!!
OK, come on down, it will go away soon.
NO! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!
No worries. Just stay still, it won’t bother you.
NO! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!

This back and forth dialogue went on for awhile. Me trying to convince Halle everything was cool. Halle responding back like the sky was falling.

Finally, I actually try to look for this bee. My head turns up to the play set and…

keep reading

de*stroy [di-stroi] – verb (used with object)  1. to reduce to useless fragments, a useless form, or remains, as by rending, burning, or dissolving; injure beyond repair or renewal; demolish; ruin; annihilate.  2. to put an end to; extinguish 

Yep. That is what our little Dee does best. She really does have this innate knack for figuring out ways to destroy. We have had to say goodbye to many an object because of one ‘gifted’ little girl.  And her actions truly match, in just about every way shape and form, the definition above.  Although I am thankful to say that nothing has been burned…at least not yet. Give her time.  She is only two.

I am often alerted by Halle with the common household phrase, “mom, dee is into something she shouldn’t be.”  And she is.  I wish I kept better track of all those things that have met an untimely end in her care.  But at this moment only a few incidents come to mind. Little unripe, green tomatoes on the vine, what does Dee do? She rips them off and throws them at her sisters. A cassette tape discovered, what does Dee do? She pulls and pulls until all the tape is off the reel and in a big tangled pile.  And I know there are many many others, but… (regretful sigh…) this is all I can remember right now. Nevertheless, there is always this constant amazement I have for the craftiness of Dee.

Going forward, I plan to do a better job of keeping up with these things.  But until the next “feat” surfaces, I do have an image that captures the fate of one poor marker. The picture below is what prompted the post.  

I had no idea you could do this! But Dee discovered that you could actually disassemble the top and shred the writing tip.  Of course that meant her hands, face, and clothes were completely covered in red.   And where was mommy??? I was just 10 feet away in the kitchen at the sink, but had no idea what she was up to (I never am).  I thought they were all just coloring innocently at the table.   I should know by now that unwatched, Dee is rarely up to anything innocent.