Over the holidays, almost as if she sensed something was coming, her behavior changed. She would no longer go to bed on her own, she would not listen to us and she started to develop quite the little saucy attitude. It was cute at first but when you are also taking care of a newborn son while your husband is away on deployment, it was no longer funny. Oh! What to do?!
I do not believe in the "time outs". I do not believe in letting her "cry it out" to fall asleep by herself. I want things to be positive and that is very very hard since she always seems to be purposely pushing boundaries lately. It is incredible frustrating when it takes us over an hour to get her to bed and when she hits and screams for no reason. We often ask ourselves why. Is it our fault?
I am part of a parenting group with ladies who share many of the same parenting philosophies has I do. It's great to talk about these things during our meetings when others think that we are just crazy for not using the "easy way". We discuss tips and techniques we could possibly try. We encourage each other on during tough times. This week, I came across a quote that has completely changed my perception on Abigail's behaviors as of late.
Abigail is not misbehaving on purpose. She does not think about the outcome before she does something. She doesn't hit me because she doesn't love me. She is 3! Three is a tough age! She is learning so much right now, it is perfectly natural for there to be some hiccups along they way. We are just lucky enough to be along for the ride. We will keep trying to guide her in the right directions and teach her techniques to help overcome certain obstacles. But essentially, she needs to do the work herself. I will no longer question my parenting decisions. I will no longer blame myself when she does something mean.
I love Abigail and there isn't a single thing I would change about her.
No comments:
Post a Comment