Is there such a thing as the "terrible five's?" Now we've all heard about the "terrible two's" and how a toddler tests the sanity of her parents, but at five years old?!? If this continues, I won't make it through the teenage years.
Yesterday as I picked up the girls at daycare, one of the teachers walked out with a sad expressioned Grace. The teacher explained that Grace had a very good morning. But things took a turn for the worse at naptime. Grace explained that she was trying to put her boots on, the teacher saw her kicking a fellow child. Then the teacher opened a baggie with a big ol' chunk of hair in it and said Grace had pulled this out of another little kid's head. Now we've had some tangles in Grace's hair that took out a sizeable chunk, but nothing nearly as big as the wad of hair in the baggie. Grace would not explain why she did these things. I loved the way the teacher talked to her...with not even a bit of tension in her voice, even giving Grace a kiss when she was done explaining.
On the way home, I'm in the car asking myself what I'm doing wrong, what's not working. Perhaps I need to head my heine over to the library and check out some parenting books....what I'm doing ain't working for her. Deep breath in....and out....
Relax and take a deep breath. Grace is her father's daughter. Even though I had my doubts, we all survived. I like to think I've earned my place in heaven raising Jeremy (especially considering he grew to adulthood)! I remember actually writing for and bringing home brochures for military school - and he was only in the second grade, first semester! They only thing that saved him is that it was so expensive. You aren't doing anything wrong. Her little mind is running a thousand times faster than her maturity and little body can keep up with. The acting out is probably more frustration than anything else. She knows how she wants it to work, she just doesn't know how to get there and nothing goes as quickly as her mind works. Like Jeremy she will eventually sync - look at how mellow he is now! So as to not discourage you, I won't tell you how long that took but pick up the phone anytime you want to vent! In the meantime, deep breaths, little prayers and lots of good wine helps!
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