Thursday, March 26, 2009

Listening & Doing

Have you ever noticed that the busier you are the less likely your child (or children) is to listen and do what you ask of them?

Have you ever noticed that the louder your voice gets the more that child tunes you out?

Have you ever had a child take total and complete advantage of the fact that you are on the telephone and therefore cannot see them or stop them from sneaking into the kitchen cabinet for the cookies you told them 5 minutes ago they couldn't have?

It has been a very frustrating two weeks at our house with the resident 4-almost-5 year-old! Dee and I are coordinating/directing a wedding this weekend and all of the last minute details, emergencies, melt-downs, etc. have been taking our full attention.

Demi has decided that the only way to get attention is to misbehave -- 'cause when she does that, she has our full attention! For example, emptying all of the soft soap refill into the bathroom sink, toilet and your sippy cup has a tendency to draw adult attention. Driving your older sister nuts, hiding under her bed, pinching her and pulling her hair also gets you lots of attention. Cranking the volume up on the TV to the highest possible level draws some attention. So does picking up the phone extension and chattering to whomever Mommy is talking to at that particular time (our clients just love that, I'm sure!).

Lest you think that we are the only ones feeling the brunt of Demi's misbehavior let me fill you in on what is happening at school! Her teachers have been in and out of the classroom in meetings over the last week or so. And our brilliant 4-almost-5 year-old has seized every opportunity to wreck havoc there too. She actually got sent to see the pre-school "principal" one day this week! ARGH!

Hopefully next week will see a return to normalcy for all of us. The wedding will be over and the next one we're coordinating isn't until the second weekend in May. Oh, wait . . . her birthday is next week!

Forget normalcy -- I wouldn't know what that was if it walked up to me, introduced itself and whacked me over the head with a baseball bat! I've heard that it's wonderful, if overrated . . . normalcy, that is -- not the whack with the bat.

-- Jen

1 comment:

Mom! Dude! said...

Demi and my 4-year-old Alex would get along famously. I'm with ya, sistah!