January 9, 2008

Raising a Drama Queen (or two)

The other day, Lil C and I were having a leisurely morning watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when she announced that her name is no longer "Lil C."

"My name. . . Drama," she said. She paused for emphasis and then added, "My name drama QUEEN." I laughed out loud. She’s obviously paying attention when Mr. BBM and I talk about her. She realized she was being cute and funny and took it one step further. "My name Princess Drama Queen," she said. Apparently, she’s been playing with Big I a lot too.

Lil C has always been very different from Big I. Big I was, for the most part, always pretty quiet, calm and sweet. She had her moments but they were few and far between. Lil C has been an entirely different story. With a big sister to aggravate her, plenty of toys that are off limits as per Big I, and a feisty attitude to begin with, calling herself "drama queen" is not all that far from the truth.

It got me to thinking about the rest of our family and how we operate. Is "drama" a learned behavior or was she just born dramatic? Here are a couple examples to help formulate an opinion:

When a particular member of our family gets a splinter, there is screaming, sobbing, and frantic freaking out akin to what winning the lottery must be like, except of course, not a good freaking out, a bad one, a very very bad one. When trying to get the offending piece of wood out, a certain somebody will pull their hand away when you get within two feet of it and this will continue for at least a good 10 minutes.
If a bee or wasp gets into the house, there is a total and complete "lock down" of the BBM household, as in "Everyone get to the safe room and NOW!" Complete with towels to plug up the narrow air holes under the doors, and a case of water in case the stand off is a long one, the BBM family goes into hiding Y2K style until the offending "beast" is "offed" with hairspray, bug killer or a nearby shoe.
When a certain someone in this house gets in trouble, this person will sometimes send themselves to their room before being told to go there. This doesn’t mean this person remains there quietly. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. This certain someone has a mirror in their room. Upon entering the room, one will find this person flailing about in front of the mirror, complete with crocodile tears, while screaming "Why? Why? Why?" at their image in the mirror. Where are the "All My Children" casting people when you need them?
A certain someone has recently decided that no meat will cross their tongue except for Chicken McNuggets. This person has also gotten very picky about all types of food with the exception of Pop-Tarts. This person will eat any type of Pop-Tart. I swear they could contain pork chops, and if wrapped in that nice little pastry with a little icing, this person would still be all over it. When it’s time for dinner, if this person doesn’t like the selection, it is not unusual for this person to wind up on the floor, moaning and whining her opposition to the offending entree. Many times the moaning/whining/flailing combo happens underneath the table where it is greatly entertaining for "Princess Drama Queen" in training.

Do you think you can properly identify the Drama Queen "Sensei" in the family?

If you guessed BBM as the main character behind all of these drama-filled scenarios, then you would be. . . . correct. Actually, just kidding. That was for added drama. We’re all pretty good at drama in this household, each and every one of us. Now if you’ll excuse me. . .

"Mr. BBM, get out from under the table now; and for the LOVE of GOD, get away from the mirror! We are NOT having Chicken McNuggets for dinner AGAIN!"

"You won’t get out from under the table?" (I know how to get you out from under there. . . )

"Oh no, what’s that noise? What’s that. . . BUZZING? I think there’s a wasp in the house! Take cover. TAKE COVER!!! Get to the safe room NOOOOWWWWWW!!!"

***The latest review is up at The BBM Review. Have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan in the house? Don’t miss it.