i'll show you

This morning at breakfast, Truett decided that he wanted to sit at our little, two-seater cafe table with me and leave Jem alone at the bar. Jem, of course, didn't like the idea of eating by himself, even though we were all still in the same room. So to avoid a meltdown by either one, I explained to them that Tru could eat at the table for breakfast and then Jem could eat at the table during lunch time. And I explained that I didn't want to have any whining or arguing about it. This was mostly directed at Tru and he knew it. He looked up from his oatmeal and said, "I'm going to sit down at the bar for lunch and I'm not going to cry and I'm going to listen to you." Pretty cool, right? Except for the fact that he said it in a threatening tone with his eyebrows lowered and his shoulders hunched. It is the same tone and posture that he uses when he is threatening to throw something. It was a weird moment to realize that he was threatening me with good behavior. Almost as if he was trying to defy me to believe that he could ever be angry or misbehave.
I looked at him and asked, "Are you threatening me with good behavior", to which he calmly replied, "Yes. I am".