Bree’s Introduction to LOLLIES!

Bree and her parents visited some friends on the weekend. She had a ball. In fact, we think she had a bit too much fun. I heard that she got to ride a pony, cuddle a couple of rabbits, pat a guinea pig, jump on a big trampoline, play with big boys and girls, and ride on a tractor. The biggest bombshell is that Bree had her first taste of LOLLIES! The kids of her parents’ friends beat Ettie (Bree’s dotting grandma) to that honour. Naughty Ettie did try to introduce a little bit of chocolate (Freddo’s head) to the then 13 month old Bree at Christmas time but the tot spat it out in disgust to the delight of her mum.

All was well on Saturday. Bree’s mum did inform those big kids not to share junk food with her. They were between the ages of 8 -16 and they just couldn’t resist playing with their little visitor. They apparently treated her like a little baby and she enjoyed every bit of the attention. Some time after lunch on Sunday, Bree’s dad was supposed to be watching over her while she played with the youngest children. Bree’s mum came out looking for her. She found Bree holding a bag of candy sticks (like musk sticks apparently) and she had a mouthful of them. Bree’s mum told me she didn’t want to make a scene so she tried to gently coax Bree to let go of the bag. Of course the child wouldn’t let go. The 8 year old and her 10 year old twin brothers even told Bree’s mum that it was ok for Bree to have some lollies. Then the adults started to say the same thing. Bree’s mum told me that she let the issue go for another 15 minutes or so and during that time, she saw Bree stuffing herself silly with a smorgasbord of different lollies. Her friend kept telling her that Bree would be fine. She did try to think that junk food in moderation was ok, but when she just couldn’t stand it anymore, she took Bree indoors for a toilet break. Apparently she didn’t get much peace in there either. Bree’s toilet ritual had been quite an attraction to a few of the other kids since her arrival.

The car trip home was peaceful. The tot was exhausted because she didn’t have a nap. Her nap was interrupted on Saturday as well. She was already wide awake when they reached their street. Bree played with her dad while her mum prepared a simple dinner for her. Her mum noticed that her little girl was already more active than normal. Half way through dinner, Bree decided she had enough and from then onwards, a different child emerged. She was loud and hyperactive. She was dancing and singing one minute and then running around in circles the next. Her father was surprised that she can sing that many songs. They placed her in the bath to calm her down but she chose to attempt to climb out instead. Bree wanted neither her night time nappy nor her pyjamas. It took a bit of effort from her dad to get them on her eventually. After the wrestle, she decided to turn the couch into a big trampoline. The adults watched her and were pretty sure that she would slow down soon. She did indeed slow down to play with her toys. The adults thought the storm was over. Her dad stepped into the office to check his emails while mum was busy ordering Chinese food over the phone. The next time she turned around to check on her daughter, Bree was standing on the dining table laughing and dancing. Bree’s mum had never seen her behaving that way. (This is exactly how Alexandra used to be except that it used to happen at least a few times each week.) Bree was in such a jolly happy hyper mood until around 11:00 pm. After that, her mood swung to the other extreme as she became increasingly tired. She kept her parents up because she didn’t want to sleep. She was upset and demanded to be entertained even though she was obviously tired. This carried on till around 1:00 am.

I arrived at work on Monday morning approximately half an hour early. Bree’s dad was on his way out. He had a silly smile on his face and warned me that I would be in for a big surprise. Bree’s mum, looking tired, welcomed me and filled me in on the details of what had happened. There was no sign of the friendly little tot who would usually race down the hallway to greet me. After leaving my stuff in the laundry, I entered the family room to find Bree lying on the couch with a bottle of milk. I didn’t notice her before that. She was still in pyjamas. The tired little one didn’t say a word to me. After much urging, she managed to give me a weak wave. Before Bree’s mum left, I was instructed to have a slow day and to let Bree nap for as long as possible. To prevent her from staying up at night again, I made sure her nap started just after morning tea. She slept for 4 hours straight. This bumped her lunch to much later. She didn’t say much before her nap except to request (more like a demand) that she should be allowed to wear her nappy. She didn’t say much immediately after her nap but after lunch, the Original Bree gradually returned. She even requested a bath. She was happy to go nappy-free after that. Bree was exhausted again by the time her mum returned home. I didn’t see any of the wild behaviour. I obviously arrived after the storm was over. Lucky me!

Question: Do you think Bree’s wild behaviour was a result of eating lollies? Or do you think the excitement of those two days in the country and exhaustion affected her? Or do you think it was caused by a combination of different factors?