The Golden Ticket

At some point in the last week, Sloane has decided that she no longer needs a sippy cup and is ready to drink from an open vessel. We had been exposing her to open cups with gentle reminders of small sips. Sometimes, it goes well and other times there is a gasp with a quiet wide eyed moment until she coughs thru the next breath. Always, it is a volume issue. Too much liquid, too fast.

Lately, though, after Sloane has wandered off with her sippy cup, she pulls a 007 move! Sloane has been twisting the straw tops off her sippy cups when out of sight and drinking straight from the cup. My child is tricky. Always has been and always will be.

Monday, while we were driving in the car Sloane decided to turn her take small sips from a toddler cup into a toss your head back take a swig contest from an open jug.  As all parents, I know that when Sloane isn't singing, talking or playing with a noisy toy something is up. Quiet, when you have a three year old, usually means trouble is brewing. So as we were driving along the highway, I noticed it ...silence!! It takes a minute or two to register and then I casually put down my visor mirror (otherwise known as mommy has eyes behind her head) and I see it........or rather hear it.

Sloane unscrewed the cover to her sippy cup and was chugging her water with her head tilted back. And then it comes.....water bubbling out of all the likely places. Her nose, her mouth and dripping off her chin. The coughs start, the eyes water and gasp for a breath follows.

Sloane drinking from an open vessel is acceptable when she has an adult with her to manage her sips, it is acceptable when she is upright in the proper position and it is acceptable when she is bright eyed and bushy tailed. None of these were the case as we drove home from another overnighter at the beach house.

I grabbed the cup out of her hands with a big fat No Thank You!!! Waited for her to process all the water that had been injected in all the wrong areas and then spent a few minutes explaining why we don't do take the top off our sippy cup. All while driving down 95. Sloane's response was "But, momma, I'm a big girl."

Sloane may be a big girl. I, on the other hand, am like a child waiting for Christmas to come. I have been waiting for a certain job opportunity to call. Each time, my phone rings with an in recognizable number, I think..this is it....the golden ticket! But it's not. Sloane maybe a big girl. Her momma may just starting throwing a tantrum like a baby as the days tick away towards the school year.