“I am not cold!”
“Your lips are blue,” the mother deadpanned.
“They’re not!” the child insisted, her exclaim dampened by chattering teeth.
“I see,” the woman breathed and swallowed a retort. The girl was altogether too much like herself and would only dig in deeper if confronted.
One set of eyes stared at the other.
The shuddering intensified.
“There’s a nice warm bath and dinner waiting inside,” the mom dangled.
A shrug.
“And how long do you intend to be … um … ‘not cold’?”
The little girl narrowed her eyes.
“Very well. Shall I bring you a chair, then?”
For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers
Photo: © Dale Rogerson
Na'ama Yehuda 
Very smart mom! Sometimes you just gotta let them come to their own conclusions 😉
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Yep. When the adrenaline of arguing dials down and the audience dwindles, the cold has a way of asserting itself in persuasive ways … 😉
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That is a truism… 😉
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😀
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Strange, many kids don’t feel the cold. I loved being cold when I was little. It drove my mother nuts.
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I hear ya! I have a niece who is utterly impervious. Short jacket and no-see-socks in the middle of winter in Boston, when everyone else was bundled up with knee long puffers, scarves, hats, fluffy boots, and mittens. Her mama learned to not push it and pile the extra scarves on my niece’s always-cold sister … 😉
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Ha that’s insane. She may grow out of it. As an adult, I don’t like being cold anymore than I do hot.
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She’s a teenager now and still seems impervious to cold. I think Antarctica may be in her future … 😉
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A lovely clash of wills here
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I think, recognizable … 😉
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An ‘oh yes you are, oh no I’m not’ situation! No point in arguing!
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Exactly! Just let them stand and shiver without an audience (while tracking them stealthily from behind the curtain …) until they grudgingly come in … and then just remember to be kind and not gloat … because, you know, “I told you so” only makes for more pouts … and cold is a lesson enough …
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Very true to life. Why do kids always insist they are not cold when it is freezing outside! 🙂
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It’s a matter of blue-lip principle! 😉
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Interesting how we often need someone to tell us that we needn’t prolong suffering. Well done, Na’ama.
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Thanks, Bill … 😉 And sometimes we just need to do that anyway … and suffer on our own terms … 😉
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‘The little girl narrowed her eyes.’ That is so true to life! Entertaining story with some shrewd observations.
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Thanks, Penny … Yep, I think we all been there seen that … 😉 Glad you enjoyed!
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Very true-to-life dialogue here. She’s a stubborn little girl, and the mother knows when to adopt a different strategy. Well told.
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Ah, stubborn little girl and a mama who recognizes this stubbornness in herself in time to pivot … Yep … 😉 So glad it was recognizable … 😉
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Na’ama Y’karah,
This kid’s going to be loads of fun when she reaches her teens and the hormones kick in. 😉 Love the mother’s patience and realization that she’s watching a younger version of herself. So much told in few words. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yep, and yep. … And, thanks! It was such a fun photo to work from! 🙂
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Now that is what I call a stand-off. May the best one win!
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I think the cold will best them both … 😉
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Nice ending. I like this sentence which explains their relationship: “The girl was altogether too much like herself and would only dig in deeper if confronted.”
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🙂 Thanks, Frank! Isn’t it often that we see ourselves in the children in our families? And they mirror to us, sometimes the best traits, sometimes less so. … 😉
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Some kids are strong-willedl and need to be left to make their own choices.
Let’s hope she softens a bit when she’s a teen, otherwise there may be many
difficult moments for mom. I enjoyed your take on the prompt.
Isadora 😎
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Yep, if she doesn’t soften up, it’ll be a bumpy ride … 😉
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🤪 😀
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LOL!
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Kids! My niece loves to argue for the sake of arguing as well. 🤣
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It is part of growing up and defining one’s boundaries and power in the world, isn’t it? 🙂
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Absolutely!
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🙂
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