Keeping the Faith

Sharing time with my daughter in this program has been a heavy... gift.

She's spontaneous, bright, a free-spirit, independent.
She also fights the rules, is sneaky, unfocused and stubborn beyond belief.

However, by spending time with her in a circle of little girls of similar ages I can cross compare and honestly... appreciate her good qualities and see her other qualities as typical of the age, and not simply because she wants to be hurt my feelings, my pride or break my rules.

By 'forcing' myself to spend a good amount of one on one time and giving her undivided attention (I'm trying to maintain the original intention of the program and keep the meetings daughter-mom driven, and not playdate driven), her behavior has improved and her cooperation has increased.

Her turnaround has enlightened me about this fact of children: they listen to those who appreciate them for who they are. I'm not saying she's an angel (she's a Rain Angel) but I am saying that occasionally those little cries of protest or digging in of the heels... it's someone saying, hey listen to me, pay attention to me, and show me you care about me and who I am. When she doesn't have to fight for my love or attention, most of the battle goes out of her.

She then concentrates on her preferred battles of lobbying paper balls at her brother or racing with him down the street. Or brushing her teeth and hair.

Hang in there, when you have a stubborn one like mine. You just gotta hang in there and believe that inside her or him: there's a tiny baby who needs kisses and love. Forever.