The holidays must be getting to him. He was fine one minute, and the next? Scorched earth nuclear event – kicking his feet, pounding his fists on the floor, and screaming at the top of his lungs.

I put his tiny wooden butt in time-out and told him he could come out when he used his big boy words. He did use a couple of adult words when I said that, but I won’t repeat them here.

As I settled down in the kitchen with a cup of cocoa and waited for the screams to stop, I realized I probably shouldn’t have let my kids hide him like an Easter egg for three hours yesterday.*

Anyway, when he stopped crying, I went in to check on him. Little guy was fast asleep.

When he woke up, he was full of smiles and wanted to snuggle.

*The two year old adores this game and calls him ‘The Geez’. She tries to put him in the manger’s cradle when no one’s looking. As soon as the five year old notices, she kidnaps J and hides him somewhere in the house for the two year old to find. I was a little concerned he might go missing, but we’re in round 182 of this game and so far, he keeps returning. It must be some sort of miracle. Although after his tantrum, I must question whether there have been some unintended emotional consequences for the J Meister.