Do as I say, not as I do
It has been a long week. A hot week. Another kitchenless week, but I digress. The point is, we are all hot and cranky and ornery around here.
Yesterday, Julia literally would not stop snapping at me. What little energy I had left was quickly drained as she yelled and ordered me around and generally acted like a princess addressing her servant. Finally, I turned to her and asked "What makes you think you can talk to me that way? Does anyone talk to you like that?"
"You do," she replied quickly.
What? "When do I order you around rather than asking for your cooperation," I asked her in surprise. "When I'm naughty," she replied. "Well. That's different," I quickly defended myself. "When you're being naughty, it makes me very angry. You're not supposed to be naughty."
"Yes, but Mommy, right now I'm angry at you. I think you're being naughty. So it's OK to talk to you this way."
My options at this point? The old "I'm the mother so I can do these things but you can't" defense or allowing my child to treat me like her personal whipping post. Is there an Option C somewhere I'm unaware of? Because as I see it now, either way, I lose. And I'm not thrilled about the prospect of being outwitted by a 3 year old. Not even a very bright one.
posted by Rebecca @ 2:33 PM
4 Comments:
Where you made your mistake is letting on that being angry (from her being naughty) was what gave you permission to order you around...nah...you can order her around 'cause your BIGGER AND BADDER THAN SHE IS! I know, not the best parenting philosophy, but sometimes you gotta beat 'em to the punch!
Let me try that again:
Where you made your mistake WAS letting on that being angry (from her being naughty) was what gave you permission to order HER around...nah...you can order her around 'cause your BIGGER AND BADDER THAN SHE IS! I know, not the best parenting philosophy, but sometimes you gotta beat 'em to the punch!
Now, why doesn't Blogger let me edit my comments? You'd think I was drn near illiterate or somethin...
She makes a good point, and once again I am a little grateful that my kids aren't as scary smart as Julia. But the bottom line is, see, you are the authority figure. She's going to be in all sorts of situations in her life where those in positions of authority will be able to speak to her in ways in which she won't be able to speak to them -- teachers, bosses, and so on. As an AP mama I am all about treating kids with respect as people, and you do treat Julia that way; but you are still the boss of her.
Maybe you should just stop being naughty. Sheesh.
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