Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

That's what little girls are made of.

However, when that little girl is a precocious, two and a half year old second child, there is a flip side to that coin.

There's screaming. There's sass. There's showing her ass!

I call her my little curly-headed alarm clock. Because she and her brother usually wake between 6-6:30 am every single day. My highly developed "Mommy Sense" has trained me to wake ever so slightly around this time so that I can hear whatever little rumblings are coming from the opposite side of the house.

Normally, it's fairly subtle. The sound of a door opening. Little feet shuffling. Then giggles. Or a sweet little voice, gently calling: "Oh, Moooommmmyyyyy!! Where aaaaarrrreeeee yoooouuuuuu???"

Occasionally, the giggles are followed by fighting, or the ever present refrain of a household with more than one preschool-aged child: "MINE!" Which is usually followed by crying. To which I grumble, and roll out of bed, or ever so gently poke my husband in the ribs in hopes that HE will get up and deal with it. Either way, this particular alarm clock almost always results in a scolding and / or time-out before breakfast.

This morning's alarm however, was not subtle. It was not sweet. It was not even merely obnoxious. It was searing.

Imagine, if you will, just coming out of a rare night of peaceful sleep. Just starting to stir when you hear a door open, followed by the ear-piercing shriek of a toddler screaming: "Daddy!! DADDY!!! DADDY!!!!!" Then, when no response is given: "MOMMY!!!!"

Now, I'm not talking about merely yelling. Or even screaming. I'm talking about a nearly ultra-sonic shriek that could almost peel the paint! This is the same shriek that she let fly for nearly a solid HOUR the other day, during an exceedingly long tantrum.

Since Daddy was screamed for first, I every so gently nudged him fully awake, and suggested that he may want to go see what the reason could possibly be for the darling daughter of ours to be shrieking like that.

Turns out, there was no reason. Such is the nature of life with a toddler.

Why did you do that?

I don't know!

Next thing I know, I'm flanked in the bed by the shrieker and the brother she woke up, and after a stern warning NEVER to scream like that again, the four of us enjoyed our morning snuggles.

For about two minutes.