It was a cold and rainy January day and little Caiden was stuck inside. Normally the tot would be sent outside to run off any excess energy, but that wasn't going to work today. Instead, his parents let him have a little extra screen time on the tablet. Caiden was sitting quietly on the couch when his stomach started to growl. It was the early afternoon and therefore snack time so Caiden slid his diapered butt off of the couch and toddled into the kitchen where he found his father.
"Dad. Daddy. Daddy!" said Caiden as he got progressively louder as he pulled on his father's shorts.
"Be patient Caiden, daddy is on the phone." responded Mike calmly as he went back to his conversation.
Caiden sighed, plopped on the floor next to him, and continued watching his tablet. Mike finished his phone call a few minutes later and turned his attention to his youngest.
"OK Caiden, daddy is finished with his phone call. Thank you for waiting quietly. What do you need?" asked Mike calmly.
"Snack daddy! Ima hungwy." announced Caiden as he stood up and faced his father.
"Well alright then, let's get you some chocolate milk." replied Mike as he made his way over to the counter.
"Yippee!" exclaimed Caiden as those were his favorite.
Mike went over the to counter and grabbed a bowl and poured some Cheerios in it. He then made his way to the refrigerator and poured some chocolate milk into Caiden's sippy cup.
"OK big guy. Snack is on your table table." said Mike as he set the goodies on Caiden's Little Tykes picnic table.
"Tank you daddy!" said Caiden as he sped past his father with tablet in hand.
"Ah ah. Hold on a minute." stopped Mike as he managed to grab the back of his tot's shirt, "No tablets in the kitchen remember. I let you get away with it while you were waiting for me to get off of the phone, but now that you have your snack, it's time to put it away until you're finished."
"AAWWwww....but dad...." whined Caiden.
"...Hm...Would you rather me keep it for the day..." Offered Mike.
"...No...I wun use it in da kitchen..." accepted Caiden as he sat down, "Wait! Can I eats in da livin woom?"
"No Caiden, you know there's no food allowed in there either. Now am I going to have to take this for the day or are you going to follow the rules?"
"...I'll follow da rules..." sighed Caiden in defeat.
"Good boy. You can get it off of the counter when you're finished." said Mike as he sat the tablet down and started to head out of the kitchen, "I'll be in the study if you need me Caiden."
Caiden nodded as his father left. He ate his snack as fast as he could so he could get back to the show he was watching on his tablet. He quickly finished his Cheerios but noticed that he was still hungry. Being the big boy that he was, Caiden decided that he would get some more by himself. He went over to the side table where the Cheerios were and tried to reach for them. They were just out of reach so Caiden jumped and jumped and finally managed to get the Cheerios....by knocking the box over and spilling them on the floor.
'Still a win!' Caiden thought to himself as he scooped some of them into his bowl.
While he was getting some more snack, Caiden looked up and noticed the tablet on the counter. That's when he got a brilliant idea...
Meanwhile, Mike was being productive in the study when he heard Caiden's tablet being played on.
'There's no way he's done with his snack yet.' said Mike to himself as he sighed frustratedly and walked down the hall to the kitchen.
Once he arrived, he found the toddler lying on the threshold of the kitchen watching his tablet and eating his snack.
"Caiden, what did we just talk about?! You know the rules young man. I'm afraid you lost your tablet privileges for the day..." lectured Mike as he realized this his son didn't seem the least bit remorseful. In fact he was even smirking!, "What's so funny?"
"I am followin's da rules daddy." replied Caiden confidently as his tail wagged.
"Oh yeah, how so?" asked Mike as he was puzzled.
"Ima eatin' in da kitchen and ima watchin my tabwet in livin woom." explained Caiden.
Mike's stern look turned blank as he started to say something but stopped as he couldn't dispute what Caiden was saying.
"Well you got me." chuckled Mike as he tried to put on a stern face again, "I should have been more clear but you shouldn't have been so cheeky."
Caiden giggled and playfully stuck his tongue out at his father.
"Stinker." teased Mike as his eye caught the mess in the kitchen, "Hm, It looks like someone helped themselves to seconds didn't they?"
"Uh huh! I gots it all by myself!" shouted Caiden proudly.
"I can see that. I'm proud that you got it by yourself." started Mike as he went over to the laundry room and grabbed a mini broom and brush, "Since you were big enough to get seconds by yourself, you're also big enough to clean up the mess too..."
marinaneira
