Episode 12 (Temper Tantrums and Consequences)

Well, Tempest seems to have hit a rebellious stage. I woke up to the sound of the door opening this morning and found her fully dressed, shaking paint and talcum powder onto the lawn near the plants.

Our precious plants, which could have been affected by what she was doing. I was shocked that she'd do such a thing.

"Tempest!"

She pretended not to hear, scattering paint, before I came and stood in front of her.

"Tempest Zodiac, I cannot think what possessed you to do this! Stop that right this instant!"

She stopped, her face scrunching up into a little stubborn frown.

"It's just paint..."

"Tempest, I am incredibly disappointed in you! You will clean this up after breakfast, and then I think I will discuss with your father what the consequences of your actions are going to be."

She scowled at me, but I  paid no attention. Tempest needed to learn that she wasn't going to get away with bad behaviour like this.

J and I agreed that the first thing to happen should be revoking internet access. As we knew, she could still see her friends at school, so that wasn't a problem. J told her over breakfast, whilst I was feeding Thora.

"Pumpkin, it's just for a week, but you know better than to behave like that."

I think he was expecting her to agree and realise her behaviour was wrong, or something of the kind, but unfortunately, it went down about as well as you would think.

"You can't do this! This is so unfair! All over some stupid flowers! You can't take away my phone! It belongs to me! That's stealing, and it's not fair! You're such morons!"

J looked taken aback, and I sat down opposite Tempest. I'd pretty much expected this would happen, but I was angry with her.

"And, congratulations. You just talked your way out of another week of phone and computer access. I can only assume the reason you're being so rude is that you're too tired, so I think we'll reinstate an early bedtime."

She opened her mouth to argue, and I glared at her.

"Don't even try it."

Behind me, I heard a clatter, and saw Thora's breakfast upturned on the floor when I turned to look for the source.

"Thora! No! Naughty little girls do that! No dessert for you."

Thora simply grinned, and I tutted at her.

"J, can you clean this up?" I asked, and he smiled, tiredly.

"Sure thing, angel. You go get the little monster ready for kindergarten." 

I smiled back at him, and picked Thora up, heading towards the bathroom, but not before turning to see a miserable expression on Tempest's face.

Did I feel for her? Yes, of course. She's my daughter, and I don't like seeing her upset. But did I want to revoke her punishment? Not one bit. I've seen what monsters can be born out of letting children do what they please all the time, and I've no desire to see my own daughter become a spoiled brat.

I can only wonder if she's acting out because she's upset due to me not telling her anything more on my family. But I don't want to tell her more. My family aren't nice people, as living here has made me appreciate.

Besides, it could be anything that's causing this. J told me that she recently had a falling out with one of her close friends, Elisa, while Elisa and Dominic were visiting our house.

Dominic seems to have patched things up between the two girls, but I'm worried about it, I'll admit. Elisa is a good friend of Tempest's, and as far as I know, Tempest only has three good friends - a girl called Mina who's more of a 'school-only' friend, Dominic, and Elisa.

From what J's said, Elisa  seemed genuinely upset when she left the house, so I may need to ask Tempest what happened.

I remembered to check the mailbox when I left the house. Nothing more with my mother's dreaded handwriting, thank the Watcher.

Thora babbled to herself as I carried her towards the kindergarten. She's been doing that a lot lately, and while her vocabulary is impressive, it can get a little tiresome.

"See Jammy! See Jammy?" she asked, and I smiled. Jamie is something of a cousin to her, being the son of J's old roommate Mitchell. The two are inseperable, according to Miss Sugar, the kindergarten worker.

"Yes, pickle pie, we're going to see Jammy. Mama's going to drop you off and then go to work, okay?"

"Pickle pie!" She tugged my hair a little painfully, and I tried not to wince.

I knew when I'd been younger, I must have been like this with my nanny, but Thora sometimes took the biscuit when it came to hair tugging. Maybe I should start tying it back - but Tempest had never tugged it in this way, and I was sure I'd look way too much like my mother if I started tying it back.