game, set, aaand match

for the past week or so, the little man and i have been engaging in a battle of wills. it goes like this:

he sees something across the room/lawn/playground that he wants. okay, 99% of the time it's a ball.

he stretches out his little hand to it and "eeeeeeehhhhh!"s.

i say "go on, go get it!"

he says "eeeeeeehhhhhh"

i say "no, wile go get it!"

he says "eeeeeeehhhhhh!!"

i say "crawl over there and get it, boo!"

he gives one last feeble "eeehhh......", then hoists his butt up and crawls toward it.

(now it looks at this point as if i've won, right? yeah. keep reading.)

he gets about a foot away from it, sits down, and recommences with the outstretched arm and the "eeeeeeehhhhhh!!"

i encourage him to just go the distance and get it.

"eeeeeeehhhhhh!!"

"no, wile get it!"

"eeeeeeehhhhhh!!"

"it's right there, just a little further!"

"eeeeeeehhhhhh!!"

"just reach out and get it, honey!"

"eeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhh!!!!!!!"

....and on and on like this until he's close to tears, and i get up and nudge it over to him.

i know, i know. i shouldn't. but....well, it's kind of like the men's final at the u.s. open yesterday. you knew federer was going to win (i was going to get wile the ball). but then agassi won the second set, and was up 4-2 and 30-love in the middle of the thrid set! (wile crawled to within a foot of the ball!) but then federer came back, forced a tiebreak, won the tiebreak (wile began the barrage of "eeeeeeehhhhhh!!"s). they might as well have not bothered playing the fourth set (i might as well have not bothered trying to coax wile on those last twelve inches)—agassi had given it all he had, but federer just broke him. there's only so many perfect forehand winners that a man can take. just as there are only so many "eeeeeeehhhhhh!!"s that a mama can take.