I Have the Grudge Kid

T.D.'s latest achievement is screaming. She's quite adept at it. Typically the scream doesn't come in the form of frustration or anger, just bursts. Very effective when she wants to scare the bejeezes out of me.

Example 1: I am cutting up fruit at the counter. Sharp knife in hand. NPR is buzzing on the radio, a quiet afternoon listening to the feuds of Nixon and Kissinger, is there anything better? Silently she pads into the room, stalking her prey (me). She screams one sharp, shrill scream right behind me. I jump and turn quickly while brandishing that long, sharp knife. She laughs hysterically, screams again and runs away. Oh Ha ha, what good fun. I almost knifed myself in the throat jumping like that. How would I explain that to the neighbors?

Example 2: Watering plants on the deck we are out enjoying the sunny day. T.D. toddles around pointing to objects and generally pushing the dog around. Suddenly screams ring through the quiet afternoon. I turn to look and T.D. is just standing stock still in the middle of the deck and she laughs. I think my heart might have stopped for a mili-second or two. Thanks kid.

This has been going on for a few days. I know it's best to ignore it and not show reaction, but when she jumps out of nowhere and does it, sneaking up behind me screaming like a banshee on acid or at least that kid from the Grudge, it's a bit hard not to react to. A neighbor actually asked if there was something wrong yesterday because the screams coming from our house were scaring her kid. Now her kid roams the house asking, "T.D. crying? T.D. sad?" Nope. T.D. sly. T.D. delights in freaking the crap out of her Mom.

Oh and how did no one notice that on Wednesday I titled my post 'WTF Thursday!'?