She is six. Going on sixteen.
In talking with other moms of girls in this age group, the main lament I hear among them is, “The attitude! It’s terrible! She can be SO MEAN! And rude! And selfish!”
Truth.
I’ll sometimes joke that I never knew six year-olds got PMS, but that they totally do. They DO.
There is so much going on the lives of six year-old girls: friend drama at school, crushes on boys and the swirling emotion that accompanies that, little sisters pulling hair and not giving personal space when it’s needed, etc.
I want to find the balance between honoring her emotions but also teaching her not to get swallowed up by them. To show her that her feelings matter, but that the world is so much bigger than who got invited to which birthday party. To remind her that she can do anything, and that we love her no matter what.
She is at this in-between stage and it’s beautiful and hard and frustrating and amazing. (Kind of like parenthood in general, I guess. Go figure.)
Amanda, I saw your daughter’s picture on the web and thought…what the h*ll? Why did my son put a picture of his sister on the internet? Well, she’s not my daughter in the picture! Ha Ha! But my daughter is your daughter’s twin. Same hair, same eyes, same edible cheeks, same look. From what I’ve read, they even have the same attitude! WOW!
Oy. Hang in there, mama…
my youngest is 7 1/2 and we just had a major arguement over toothbrushing this morning. called her a smart-ass which she didn’t take too kindly to (go figure…i know, i’m the adult). i’m a bad parent.
No, you’re not… 😉
So it’s not just our house! I feel like we’re on this perpetual pendulum of emotions over here and it’s exhausting! We’re going to need Starbucks & chocolate to survive 16
I know! And you’ve got a double dose coming, with two girls. We’ll have a triple shot! Gaaaaaahhhh!