Wow, December is a busy time, is it not? And then they had to go and make the public schools' preschool application deadline (for the 2010 school year) December 18th of this year, because that just adds to the holiday hustle. Whew! (Of course, I could've handled this preschool stuff anytime in say, the last 6 months. But waiting until the day before the deadline and then driving all over the place with a 2 year old in tow, dropping off forms and finding out you've got the wrong form in the first place? Yeah, that's much more my style.)
For the sake of accurate reporting, I must divulge that Georgia has really been trying our patience over the last several weeks. She oftentimes ignores what I'm saying all together, or for pure sport does the exact opposite of what I've just asked her to do. Probably typical strong-willed two year old stuff, but man, what a world of difference from the ultra-obedient, aiming to please 18 month old she used to be! Also, her clingy-ness and crying jags have been going on for several months, but the past few weeks have been especially hard at times. (She had a bad cold, and I think that made it worse.) We've tried empathizing, explaining, ignoring, distracting, stern "talking to's", getting angry and telling her there's nothing to cry about, encouraging her to go calm down in another room, and whatever else we can think of. I do think it's getting better and that this is all just a phase she's going through, but you can ask those who have witnessed it -- it's not always easy to deal with in the moment.
On that note, Joe clenched his Man of the Year award last Sunday morning when he found himself sitting on the kitchen floor, consoling all 3 of his girls who were crying at the same time. I was probably being the least mature of the 3, I realize, but you know, sometimes you just crack. I had walked over to ever so slightly adjust Georgia's hair clip while she was eating breakfast in her booster seat, which caused her to start hysterically crying - God knows why. Anyway, after a rough Saturday on the homefront with her, it was a last straw moment for me, hence the ensuing cryfest on the kitchen floor. Georgia did look rather stunned and freaked out, so perhaps that's a technique I should employ more often -- just crying right back at her when she starts crying.
Some of Georgia's most trying behaviors are clearly just attention seeking moves, like when she starts hitting June or me while I'm nursing. It's never hard enough to cause anyone actual pain; she just thwacks lightly and then looks up at me with this devilish grin that's clearly asking, "So, whatcha gonna do about that, Mom?" Because, you know, even negative attention from me is still attention. It makes me a teency bit sad for her, having to adjust to sharing attention with her sister. On the other hand, it makes me laugh at the ridiculousness of it, seeing as how I'm frequently singing a song with her and letting her climb all over me (and June) when this happens, so it's not as if our little attention seeker is being neglected.
They say if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all, right? Well, no worries there, because I have plenty of nice things to say about Georgia. Stay tuned....
For the sake of accurate reporting, I must divulge that Georgia has really been trying our patience over the last several weeks. She oftentimes ignores what I'm saying all together, or for pure sport does the exact opposite of what I've just asked her to do. Probably typical strong-willed two year old stuff, but man, what a world of difference from the ultra-obedient, aiming to please 18 month old she used to be! Also, her clingy-ness and crying jags have been going on for several months, but the past few weeks have been especially hard at times. (She had a bad cold, and I think that made it worse.) We've tried empathizing, explaining, ignoring, distracting, stern "talking to's", getting angry and telling her there's nothing to cry about, encouraging her to go calm down in another room, and whatever else we can think of. I do think it's getting better and that this is all just a phase she's going through, but you can ask those who have witnessed it -- it's not always easy to deal with in the moment.
On that note, Joe clenched his Man of the Year award last Sunday morning when he found himself sitting on the kitchen floor, consoling all 3 of his girls who were crying at the same time. I was probably being the least mature of the 3, I realize, but you know, sometimes you just crack. I had walked over to ever so slightly adjust Georgia's hair clip while she was eating breakfast in her booster seat, which caused her to start hysterically crying - God knows why. Anyway, after a rough Saturday on the homefront with her, it was a last straw moment for me, hence the ensuing cryfest on the kitchen floor. Georgia did look rather stunned and freaked out, so perhaps that's a technique I should employ more often -- just crying right back at her when she starts crying.
Some of Georgia's most trying behaviors are clearly just attention seeking moves, like when she starts hitting June or me while I'm nursing. It's never hard enough to cause anyone actual pain; she just thwacks lightly and then looks up at me with this devilish grin that's clearly asking, "So, whatcha gonna do about that, Mom?" Because, you know, even negative attention from me is still attention. It makes me a teency bit sad for her, having to adjust to sharing attention with her sister. On the other hand, it makes me laugh at the ridiculousness of it, seeing as how I'm frequently singing a song with her and letting her climb all over me (and June) when this happens, so it's not as if our little attention seeker is being neglected.
They say if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all, right? Well, no worries there, because I have plenty of nice things to say about Georgia. Stay tuned....
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2 comments:
Oh, I understand this completely. I feel like half my day is just spent trying to get Anna to get her act together... its soooo frustrating.
Good post.
I know it wasn't your best moment, but picturing Joe consoling you 3 on the kitchen floor is just precious. Poor Georgia...she'll pull through this phase.
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