Five Going On Fifteen

Lily is having a stubborn streak once again. There's lots of moping, pouting, stomping, and little outbursts around here, and I honestly can't wait for this phase to pass; but no matter how challenging it is right now, there are moments that make me incredibly prout of our little girl.

Monday morning was not Lily's day. She got up in a very foul mood, and decided that she did not want the cereal Daddy had prepared for her breakfast. She complained and tantrumed, without success. She ended up pushing the bowl of cereal across the table, making a good deal of mess, and stomping back into her room smashing the door. I was more than annoyed (can you say 5 going on 15??), but didn't have time to sit down and talk to her as the bus tends not to wait for me.

When I came home in the evening, I was met by a very happy Lily. She's had fun in kindergarten and playing in her pool in the afternoon. She hugged me as soon as I walked in the door and apologized for her behavor in the morning. I was surprised, hugged her back and told her that everything was fine. But I was really surprised when I heard what had happened that morning after I had left. While Richard was in the shower, she came out of her room, cleaned up the mess on the table and when Richard was coming back, he found her sitting at the table, eating her breakfast. She went up to him and apoligized for her behavior.

I have to say, I'm proud of her. Yes, she still has to work controlling her impulses, but she's 5. She has the skills to sit and calm down, analyse her behavior, and draw her consequences from it. She got some extra hugs and cuddles after the entire story came out.

PS: I got a cute little clay owl as a surprise gift from her today. So excited about it  ;-)

Threevil Is Not The End

Richard was off tonight for muc deserved band practice (yes, I'm SO looking forward to the concert in two weeks!). The girls and I had good cuddle time on the couch, and bath time was fun, including some chases through the living room and attacks from the tickle monster. I was just taking Missy Violet to bed, when the mood went south.

Lily started a near epic tantrum after getting in trouble for destroying a puzzle book she has gotten from a family friend a few weeks earlier; there was moping, pouting, yelling, screaming, and insults involved, it was not pretty. I started with the ignore strategy, until the door smashing started, which is a big no-no in our house. I went in for a stern talk with her, discussing her jammies and why she had destroyed the book. She confessed that she just felt like being a bad girl, we tried to talk about destroying toys on purpose and what the consequences would be if she did it; that was whe she lost it again. At a point, it was enough; I let her know that her behaviour would have consequences and she would not be allowed to play with her inline skates for a while. Lound crying and "bad, bad Mami" followed. After she had calmed down, I tried to talk to her again, explaining to her that we need to work hard to earn money and she was showing a lack of respect if she was destroying things on purpose and taking everything for granted, even demanding more and more all the time.

She ended up wanting to be swaddled in her blanket and cuddling her to sleep. Right now, she's going through quite a difficult stage, which is also poses many challenges to us. I know that she wants to assert herself as an individual, and we try to teach her to voice her opinion. Moping doesn't help us understanding her, if she wants to contribute to the family decisions, she'll need to talk. She's starting to make some little improvements in this matter. Her moods and stubborness still remains a challenge. Usually, once her tantrum is over, she feels bad and needs quite a bit of consoling. She's a clever girl, a normal 5-year old, and so much her mommy's daughter, it's almost scary. Can't wait for the tantrum phase to be over for good!

PS: enjoying the "Mami I'm thirsty, Mami, I need to go potty, Mami, I want to cuddle, Mami, I'm not tired, Mami, I can't sleep"-game with Sweety, getting some extra-sweet cuddles in.  Good night, everyone!

Linkin' With The Ladies - I'm SO Glad it's Your's!!

Today, I am "Linkin' With The Ladies" being Katie at Dysfunction Junction, her great team of co-hosts, and of course the many bloggers hopping around just like me on the search for gems in the blogosphere.

Well, what else was up today? I got the car ready for our trip to Munich tomorrow to celebrate Miss Violet's birthday at Sea Life (meaning: I gave it a MUCH needed cleaning and now don't feel like a slob driving into posh Munich).

In the afternoon, we all went to a friend of Lily's for a play date. Accidentially, almost all of Lily's friends have sisters Violet's age, two of them being even born in the same month! We had a lot of fun, ate yummie chocolate cake and listened to the girls playing. We talked a lot about the house and Nicole, the mom, showed me a bunch of pictures from when they built their house back in 2006. Yes, Germans are VERY much into building! We all had a very good time, which suddenly ended when it was time to say our good-byes and head home. Lily decided that it was time for an epic tantrum. No, no normal tantrum, an epic one, including lots of screaming, kicking, throwing herself on the floor, fighting the jacket, etc. As if a tantrum had ever helped her achieve what she wanted.. Anyways, after Lily was indignantly carried away from the site by her Daddy, I got Violet ready to leave and apologized again to our hosts for Lily's behaviour. Their response?

"Oh, we've been there... And I'm SO glad it's your's this time!!"

I love people with a sense of humor. I'm heading off with my glass of wine now, planning the route for tomorrow and waiting for the yeast bread to be finished. Cheers!