By George...

I think she might be getting it!

Ms. Priss, my 8 going on 15 year old got herself in a bit of trouble this weekend. The usual stuff, talking back, telling us no, throwing tantrums worthy of a 3 year old.

First, she ruined what was going to be a fun family dinner out Friday night for everyone. Daddy stayed home with her while my sidekick and I picked up said dinner from Chili's and brought it home to eat. Normally I would have expected yet another meltdown when we ate our take out and she dined on her frozen dinner, but not this night, she just accepted her punishment.

Then Sat. morning she was supposed to go with Brian and Brooke to build the free project at Home Depot. However, making a mess in the bathroom and then blaming her sister for telling her to do it got her a few extra chores to do instead. This time no meltdown, okay a bit of back talking, but none of the whining and crying (Thank Pete!). Again, she accepted her punishment, and even helped fold laundry without complaint afterwards.

The kicker is that she was a perfectly civilized kid the rest of the weekend. So much so that we rented movies later Sat. and Sun. night she got to pick what we ordered for dinner. I was retelling this story to a friend this morning and she said, sounds like she's "getting" it. What the hell? That hadn't even occurred to me. I've been living in this world of pre-teen drama so long I couldn't fathom that might be a light at the end of the tunnel I was seeing. Now by no means do I think it's smooth sailing from here on out, but I do think she's starting to realize that we will not give in to the hissy fits. And BONUS, when she is well behaved movies, candy and pizza magically appear.

2 comments:

I hope your friend's interpetation is correct, but personal experience leads me to believe otherwise.

Social Butterfly is now 13. We have always been firm and consistent parents who punish for tantrums. And yet . . . She has no phone or iPod this week.

Thanks for stopping by. I like your fish tank photo. I agree, it's a great photo challenge.

March 6, 2008 at 11:04 AM  

Jenn, it's not that I think that she won't still have these tantrums.She's learning to cool down and accept the punishment instead of fighting it and making it worse. Does that make sense? I'm sure as she gets older it will make less and less sense to me. I may need something stronger than tequila. Hee hee

March 6, 2008 at 11:38 AM  

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