She's been a grumpy girl since I picked her up from school. I parked across the street from her school and made her cross it to get to the car. She doesn't want to do it.
We had to make a trip to Walmart for a few things, on the way she constantly whined and complained about the heat. No a/c in the car right now. When we got to the store she started with the typical "I'm hungry" routine. She blames me for her lunch bag being sticky and therefore she was unable to eat her lunch. She wants something cold, something to eat now. The answer is no, she starts to cry and whine and complain about it being to cold.
Eventually I notice a sale on frozen treats and I ask her to help choose. I like to give her the chance to help decide on things like this; treats the whole family will enjoy. She makes her choice and promptly asks me if she can have one in the car on the way home.
Again the answer is no and again she starts with the crying and carrying on. I have become fairly good at just ignoring her and walking on to finish what I need to get done. She has gotten to the point where she realises that I'm going to leave her there if she doesn't follow, so she does. (Just to clarify, I would not leave her there. I have walked away before to where she thinks I am gone when I am really hiding and watching her reaction. But she doesn't know that.)
She asks what she can do to get it and I told her she can start by stopping the crying and grumpy act. It's the same thing every time. She tries for a bit then expects to be rewarded. I told her she would have to eat her lunch. She ate her bagel and expected to get the treat. Again she heard that evil two letter word. No.
The day got worse from there. Eventually she was told there was nothing that she could do to go a treat today. That she could not make up for her poor choices. That's when she began the meltdown. Screaming, crying, hyper ventilating (she does it on purpose often), throwing things, hitting things. If we don't go and engage her one of two things will happen. She will come out of her room and engage us, or she will calm down and ask for snuggles.
Today she came looking to engage us. I got to her before she prodded my DH into frothing at the mouth and asked her if she needed snuggles. She's learning to recognise the need on her own but often she will still need someone to cue her for it.
It's not easy, it takes a lot out of someone. DH takes it harder than I do, I can ignore her better I guess. And I will tell you right now that it puts a big strain on a relationship. And at the end of a day you sometimes want to reach for a glass of whiskey. But there is nothing more rewarding than the love of a child.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
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