Morning Melt-down

Abbreviated for your reading comfort.

Scene opens at 6:45am with Frankie trying to play WoW and making loud complaints about hating the computer and how he got up early, like he does every morning, to play WoW for half an hour and now he can't because it wants to download a stupid patch and the patch won't download and the people at WoW are stupid for making him down load a patch and then he yells to Hubby, "Do we have a fire wall? It says to turn off the fire wall!"

Hubby in his Mister Rogers voice, which he does not loose all morning, walks over and tells him to turn off WoW and reboot the computer. He (Hubby) will then turn off the firewall and Frankie can start again.

Scene continues with Hubby and Yondalla preparing their breakfast and ignoring and constant stream of complaints about firewalls, companies who make them, stupid old computers that don't load quickly, stupid people at WoW who make stupid patches and then, "The patch still won't load!"

Me: "Frankie, did you start to load the patch before giving Hubby a chance to turn off the firewall?"

Frankie: "Yes!"

Me: "That's not what he said for you to do."

Frankie continues to complain about firewalls, patches, and computers.

Hubby: "Leave the computer alone for now."

Frankie clicks seeming at random at settings in N*rton. Complaining continues.

Me, trying out my own version of the Mister Rogers voice: "Frankie. Everyone else.." Frankie interrupts. Actually he interrupts every few seconds, so just imagine this little speech coming in tiny spurts, me telling him to listen and starting over. "Frankie, everyone else gets up with just enough time to get themselves ready for school. No one has time to help you with the computer." (Wow, that was short. Why did it take me like three minutes to get it out?)

Frankie: "I KNOW. I just want to ask HUBBY to help me."

Me: "Frankie, tell me what I just said."

Frankie: "I don't know. You kept interrupting me. I couldn't hear you!"

Me: "Frankie, what I am going to say is important. Listen: everyone else planned just enough time to get ready. NO ONE has time to help you. Now, tell me what I just said."

Frankie: "No one will help me. But I got up early just so that....and this stupid patch....and... "

Hubby and I ignore him, continuing to gather our things. Well, I am gathering. Hubby is sitting at his computer going over notes for his substitute. I get Frankie's communication book for school to write that he had a meltdown this morning.

I hear Hubby tell him firmly to stop trying to change the N*rton settings. I tell Frankie to back away from the computer slowly with his hands up (trying for a little humor).

Frankie says, "I'm deleting it!"

Brian yells, "What did you delete?!!"

Frankie, "MY shortcut!"

Brian, "DUDE! That could delete EVERYone's shortcut!"

Frankie stomps off downstairs to his room.

I tell everyone to have a nice day and go to work.