The Po Show

The Toughest

Yeah, I thought it was Peter Tosh, too. No, it's Tessa, my going-to-be-three years old this month baby girl (!!!).

We're just constantly amazed by how tough she is. Though she also whines and clings to me constantly, wanting to be held and carried, she shows startling fortitude.

The latest case in point was on Monday, when we were driving back home after having walked around the South End of Boston. The kids were both really hungry and wanted lunch. Ross asked me what I wanted, and I couldn't bear the thought of fast food, which is what I knew the kids wanted. I wanted pho, Vietnamese noodles. Tessa will eat noodles, but Matthew won't touch them anymore (he loved them up to the age of four, go figure). So when we drove by a Burger King, we swung back around the block (no easy feat in Boston!) to pick up the kids' lunch before going to the pho place.

We went through the drive through and I set up the kids' chicken tenders and fries in their bags so they could eat them while we drove. Matthew happily started in on his food, but Tessa started to protest.

"I want to eat INSIDE,!" she cried, pointing as we drove away from the building. I explained that we went through the drive through because we were going to the noodle place. I reached in her bag and offered her a chicken tender. She pushed it away.

"NO, I want to eat in THERE!"

I offered her some fries. She pushed them away. I pulled out her TOY and started to open it. She yanked it out of my hand and shoved it back into the bag, then clutched the bag to her chest.

"Do you want a drink of lemonade?," I asked. She had just been complaining about being thirsty and wanting a drink. She took the cup from me and set it on her lap, holding tightly onto the top. I tried to take it back, thinking it might spill.

"NO, give it back to me! PLEASE give it back to me!!," she cried. I gave it back and she held it tightly to her side.

So there she rode, with her Kids Meal bag clutched to her chest and her drink clutched against her side. She was starving and thirsty, but she had decided that she wanted to eat indoors, so she waited until we got to the place where she could do so. Meanwhile Matthew munched fries and onion rings and chicken tenders and drank his Sprite, but Tessa sat stonily right next to him and waited.

That girl is The Toughest.