Mommy vs toddler

I love my daughter so much. She is a spunky little kid, with a fierceness and attitude to match. Well, as my little munchkin slowly reaches a new birthday, the big 5 to be exact, I also wonder what new challenges in her attitude and behavior may be bring.🤔 Don’t get me wrong, she is well behaved, uses her manners, and she is super smart and full of love. She is also super energetic, and can be all over the place at times. I’ve had people ask me “has she had a lot of candy?” um...nope, that is just her naturally. Which is why I’m low on energy myself! 😫 She can also play a bit rough.💢I chalk that one up to daddy’s doing!😆 She can also be very stubborn and demanding. When she wants something, she will ask, but if she doesn’t receive an answer to her liking, meaning we said no, she can get very sassy and throw an attitude like she’s 14!🤦🏽‍♀️ Some of the things she says, surprise me and leave me shook! I’ve been stuck between wanting to give her a good smack on her bottom(or a pow pow), and trying to pick my jaw up off the ground in disbelief, and quickly replying “excuse me?!” Although I know exactly what she said. A few of these times, my husband has been near by to hear what has happened, and quickly intervenes with the big scary, well more like, authoritive daddy voice. My voice, not so commanding. As a matter of fact, I’m far from scary or authoritative sounding.😆 But she does know when I’m being serious, and when mommy is upset. Sometimes I just need daddy's help to get her to cooperate. This girl can definitely be a little meanie sometimes. 😒 I can’t help but wonder where she got her little tude from?🤔 And why do I even argue with my toddler?🤦🏽‍♀️ Lol I know if I had said, no to my mom or dad, talked back, or threw attitude, I would have gotten my butt whooped. I was actually scared to really do anything bad and risk getting in trouble. So I just learned to be sneaky. But that was mostly when I was older, can’t remember much of my toddler years.

To be perfectly honest, I mostly feared getting in trouble with my mom, sometimes just asking her for something was scary. She had a stare, and a look that just naturally made me fearful. She was good at instilling fear into me. I don’t want that for my daughter. I don’t want her to look at me and be scared to ask me something, or approach me for anything. But I do need to set boundaries so she knows when she is being disrespectful, or ”not nice”, and she needs to know it will not be tolerated.🙅🏽‍♀️ It can be battle from time to time. Sometimes, I struggle so much on how to get her to remember that! I don’t not disagree with giving pow pows, but I also prefer not to do them if I don’t have too. I can do a smack on the hand, or one on the bottom, but even then I feel like my attempts are not good enough. I don’t know how to word it. It’s like sometimes I miss (literally on occasions) in my attempt to give a pow pow, like it wasn’t really hard, probably too light to really have an impact and be deemed “punishment“. But I also am not trying to hurt her, because I know what that’s like, and I’ve even had the bruises and marks left from it. Both mentally and physically. I’ve grown up hearing the term “this is gunna hurt you more than it hurts me” but we know now, in reality it hurts both parties very much. 😔 Mores on the receiving side I think. So obviously I don’t want to leave those kind of scars on my baby. I can’t help but think about my childhood experiences with spankings, when it comes time for me to discipline my own kid. And I guess I hesitate. I start wondering if I’m doing the right thing, or if I’m being too hard, or maybe not hard enough. And of course it does break my heart when she cries from being disciplined. And I have to hold back my own tears sometimes. It’s a learning process. This little human however needs to know who’s in charge, so we are working on it and I’m working on me too. She is slowly getting it though.

There are actually some times when I have to try not to laugh at her, because well, seeing a 3.5 foot kid try and boss me around or tell me I’m the kid, and I need to behave or I’m going to be the one to get pows pows, is quite comical. Sometimes she really does crack me up. She can get so serious in her little rants. It’s cute and sometimes annoying. Lol Don’t get me wrong, I know my daughter is well behaved, and it’s not like this is an all the time thing. She is great at following directions, for the most part anyways. Kids will be kids, and I’m just trying to figure out my kid, and what works best for us. I can’t help but wonder what the future holds for us during the teenage years! Aye yi yi, I don’t even want to imagine that far ahead. 😭Lol

For the most part when I feel frustrated due to my daughters attitude or behavior we both take a time out. So that we can each breath and calm down from all the emotions. I know sometimes kids don’t always know how to express their emotions properly, and this can in turn, lead to frustration, anger, and tantrums. And with her frustration, I myself get super frustrated and can feel overwhelmed in trying to understand her 😫 It can feel like a boxing ring match, and I’m just waiting for the bell to ring, ROUND 1! I’m also eager for all the rounds to be over so that I can be declared the victor! 🙌🏽 But I guess in reality, these matches will probably go on for many years to come. I think the matches may even get more taxing, and difficult to handle or sort out.🤦🏽‍♀️ Especially as she enters grade school. Who knows?!🤷🏽‍♀️ Maybe I’m stressing over nothing! One day at a time right? Life of a mom I tell ya, gotta love it! 💖 I love my little stubborn, sassy and strong willed girl. She is really just a ball of energy ready to spread love and joy, with a splash of attitude to keep me on my feet! She is my sunshine, even on “rainy” days. ☀️