My Theia Matina always used to say, "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that kid is Greek - just look at his temper!" She was speaking about Niko, of course.
As sweet, kind and accommodating as he can be, Niko is also stubborn, demanding and temperamental.
Yesterday, for example, he needed only to finish his dinner and we could all go visit Papou, who had recently returned from a short road trip. But he didn't want to finish his dinner. Warning: no dinner, no visit with Papou.
He glared and again proclaimed his refusal to eat his dinner. I told him in no uncertain terms that we wouldn't be going to Papou's, and he still had to finish his dinner. He replied by shoving his plate across the table, spilling what was left of his dinner along the way, as it skidded to a stop just inches from the edge.
That little maneuver got him sent to his room immediately, where he proceeded to destroy it: ripping the cover off the electric fan, pushing the CD player over, tearing the life-sized self portrait to shreds. I half expected to see him barrel through the door with bulging green muscles shredding his clothes to pieces.
Unimpressed, I went about my business. It wasn't long before I heard him cleaning things up. He came out of his room, his self-portrait crumbled in a big ball, sobbing, "I need to throw this awaaaaaay." I helped him put the fan and CD player back together, and then we just sat and quietly talked about what had happened.
This morning, Niko overhear me relating the story to my mom over the phone. He picked up on something I had joked with Mom about, and interrupted me to say, "Daddy, please don't send me to angry man classes!"
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