Great Grizzling Girlie Girl
House on Red Corner · 2006-07-30
The last few days have been particularly rough for all of us here, except for Wanda she doesn’t seem to be having too difficult of a time lately; she just lies around and eats. The rest of us have been dealing with a pair of molars. Well, EJ has been dealing with the molars, we have been dealing with EJ, who is just not very happy about the situation. She really is quite uncomfortable most of the time and this has had some rather strange effects on her behavior.
Yesterday, we went to go visit our friends Jen & Udi and their son Ben, who is ten months old. EJ played very nicely with him except for a couple occasions where she got frustrated by not being able to do something. This quick frustration and her uncomfortableness resulted in Ben getting hit over the head with a wooden puzzle board, and later getting slapped by EJ. On one hand, it was quite comical to see this happen, yet we all, the adults, had to really resist the urge not to laugh but to calmly defuse the situation. Ben, of course, was given love and kisses by his parents, however Eliza-Jane needed something more.
I became distinctly aware of just how strongly I disagree with corporal punishment a week ago, when a slap on her hand by Mommy made me curl up in a ball and cry. So, this means that I could not slap her hand or swat her bottom in order to show her that this action was wrong.
Removing her from the room with all the toys and attention, seemed like a good start. Then I firmly pointed my finger at her, and said “HMMMRPH, MMMMRMMP wohwehs sdkjasurahk, ahnsjsuhajb shsjau eiakjsk.:” which I am certain she understood as “No. We do not hit other people.” and then put her in a playpen by herself for about three minutes. Then I returned and picked her up and hugged her and kissed her.
We had to do that exactly twice.
Today, she needed to just be held, all day long, by anyone - it didn’t matter which girl in the nursery, or whether it was Mommy or Daddy, she just needed to be held. Those teeth are really hurting. I personally hope that this ends soon. It would be nice to get our happy and contented little girl back. The one that gabs on her cell phone, or wraps herself up in a sarong and fluffs the pillows on the bed before she throws herself into a giggling pile of glee.