When Josiah wants something, he lets you know. He is insistent and persistent. Lately, he’s been obsessed with Hostess Coffee Cakes.  He absolutely adores them. He usually gets one in his lunch box every day. First, he has to eat the healthier options we’ve packed for him and then he is allowed to enjoy the snack cake.

When he gets home from school, he navigates through his Ipad communication app to say, ‘I want to eat a snack cake.’ Sometimes he takes me by the hand and practically drags me through the kitchen to the oven.  He knows we keep the box of coffee cakes in the cabinet just above it.

He takes my arm and throws it up, hoping I’ll retrieve one of his delectable treats and serve it to him. I explain he already has had one and is not going to get another.  My words fall on deaf ears.

No matter how many different ways I try to explain it to him, Josiah persists with his request. He continues to toss my hand up in the air.  This boy is determined. He literally tries to climb my body to reach up there himself in search of his favorite treat.

I’ve found him many times recently, pulling open the oven door and hanging onto it.  I know, given enough time, he would climb up onto that door somehow, and figure out a way to get a snack cake himself.

I try to distract him, but that doesn’t always work.  Lately, I’ve been keeping an empty box of Hostess Coffee Cakes up in that cabinet. Sometimes, if I show him the empty box, explaining they are all gone, he will give up.  But, not always.

Last night, Josiah had great difficulty going to sleep.  Rick told me this morning Josiah was up til after 5 am. I was vaguely cognizant in the wee hours of the morning of vigorous bouncing on my bed.  I was in a very deep sleep. I was aware of Josiah in the bed with me.  I could hear him making very loud vocalizations.  I could feel the bed bouncing.

In my semi-conscious state, I envisioned Josiah holding a massive amount of brightly colored balloons.  Every time he bounced, the balloons brushed together, making a sort of squeaky sound. I kept thinking someone needed to take the balloon bouquet away from him, because he was making a lot of noise with it as he was bouncing.

The bouncing wasn’t causing me to wake more fully.  It was the noise of the balloons.  No one was taking them away from him. Then suddenly, the balloons were plopped on my belly.  Josiah was giggling hysterically.

I was more fully awake now.  I opened my eyes and instantly realized, Josiah had no balloons. That boy, for who knows how long, had been bouncing vigorously on my bed, holding a gallon of milk.

I bolted awake.  I scooped the milk jug off my tummy and made my way to the kitchen.  I was wide awake now. I offered him a drink.  He gulped down 2 full glasses of milk. Then, he took my hand and dragged me towards the coffee cake cabinet.  I resisted and lead him back to bed.

As I laid there, trying to fall back to sleep, I came to a wise decision.  No more coffee cakes for a while for that kid.  And…..

I think it’s time for a refrigerator lock.