Yesterday I picked her up from school and let her play on the playground with one of her friends for a little while. Whenever I allow her to play after school, it almost always turns out to be a mistake. But if I say no, she ends up crying the whole way home. It's a lose-lose situation. Maddening, I tell you.
At 6:00 yesterday I rounded her up and coerced her to leave the playground using my favorite parenting tactic: The Empty Threat. But as soon as we were twenty feet from her school she started sobbing uncontrollably. I asked her what on Earth was troubling her, and she responded, "My life just makes me cry."
Excuse me. Your LIFE?
I prodded, "So, your life totally stinks and that's why you're crying?" She looked at me and nodded her head like, "wow, this woman does get it." And then I veered off the sidewalk to go pound my head into a brick wall.
This morning, she woke up crying. I walked into her bedroom, took a deep calming breath, and yelled, "NOW WHAT IS IT!!!???" (Works like a charm. You should try it sometime.)(NOT!) ... Her response? "I'm c-c-crying because y-y-you should've tooooold me that you were g-g-going to take a shhhooooowwwwer." *dramatically collapses on bed in fit of rage*
Oy.
And if that wasn't enough, she had another colossal breakdown when I made her turn the Disney Channel off so that we could go to school. See? SEE PEOPLE??? I needed cable like I needed a hole in my head. I think I'm going to cancel my subscription. It's caused me nothing but pain.
Life without TV was so simple and perfect. NOW LOOK AT US.
We walked to school hand-in-hand while La bawled and I marched on, commenting about the trees and the weather and the cakes in the bakery window ... completely ignoring the fact that she was whimpering at my side the entire way.
Is this just a phase? A drawn-out adjustment period? A growth spurt? Maybe she needs more sleep? Or a spinal adjustment? A lobotomy perhaps?
But the real question is, what in the hell am I going to do when she's a teenager?
1 comments:
My little Karrick is 5 and started all day Kindergarten this year. The last couple weeks he was easy to bust into tears. I think it is the adjustment, even if they did daycare or preschool. This is REAL school and they know it. La seems to have a big personality so your going to get Big personality on both ends. Karrick is my third and it will pass....into some other fun fun stuff
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