Wild Monkey

I am always amazed at how kids can turn it on and turn it off. The "it" I'm referring to is the infamous temper tantrum. I was bathing the girls tonight and they were playing Mermaid in the bathtub; all seemed to go well. They both got out, I wrapped them in towels and took them to the living room to put pjs on. Out of the blue, Bell throws her towel down, then throws herself down in a heap and starts screaming like a banshee (she does have some Irish blood in her, afterall). She was acting like a crazy person. I have no idea what set her off. I grabbed the towel and put it back on her and had the following conversation:

Me: Stop acting like a wild animal. You need to get control of yourself.

Bell: AAAHHHHHHH (ranting and raving, kick and screaming)

Me: (trying to break the moment with some humor) What kind of animal are you? Are you a wild squirel?

Bell: No! I'm a MONKEY!

Me: (Maybe we should stay away from the Gorilla house at the zoo for a while) Well, you need to get control of yourself, monkey.

Bell: (COMPLETELY normal and docile) I'm not angry anymore... I'm being fun.

Me: (fun??? Is that what we're having?)

And she was. Just as quickly as that scary wild monkey switch turned on, it turned off, and she was using her quiet, soft princess voice staring at me with those blue doll eyes. I still don't know what set her off, but Lady had fun sitting on my lap telling me her sister was acting like a "aminal." Good thing I always keep a few bananas around, just in case...