Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and get your link on their site.

This looked like a great post format, so I thought I would try it out. I'm sad that I won't bring more attention to Abby's cause. I don't get much "traffic" on my blog, but my few readers are true friends. The Riggs family is an inspiration. I'm going to flip-flop it though, so we end on a good note.

Lows- I lost it with Marina and the whole clothes situation. Again. She brought a shirt to me for approval during wardrobe lay out time that the day before I told her was too little for her and no longer appropriate to wear outside the home. I actually went over it twice, because Abby came in the middle of my explanation and asked what was wrong with the shirt. I clearly reiterated my objections to the amount of midriff the shirt revealed and sent Marina back to her room with the parting instructions that the shirt was now only to be worn as play clothes around the house. So when she parades the shirt in front of my face, two seconds after I've sent her to find school clothes for the next day, I came unglued. Petty? Yes. Silly? Yes. "It is just a shirt," you say? I know!! I know!!! But it is the little things that send me into orbit the fastest. After all, Chinese Torture is only a little drop of water! What's so terrible about that? It is the repeated drip, drip, drip, hour after hour, day after day, that drives a man insane. So it goes with motherhood. Long after my blow-up, I was able to ascertain that:
a) She remembers that EVERY time--without fail--she has put on an article of clothing against my instructions, she has gotten in trouble. AND she has not been allowed to wear the clothing in question.
b) She remembered (verbatim) what I said about not wearing the shirt.
c) She saw the shirt and thought, "Mommy says I am not supposed to wear this."
d) Her next thought was, "I am going to do it anyway."
Notice the disconnect between a-c and d? If you wonder why she does not stop and make the deduction (based on these facts and the 1,000,000+ previous encounters of a similar nature) that there will be negative consequences for bringing the shirt to me, and therefor she should put the shirt back and choose another of the PLETHORA of available outfits, WELCOME TO THE CLUB! This would be a logical, basic judgement progression even for a five year old. But Marina's brain does not work that way, and my getting angry certainly does not help it work any more effectively. On the contrary, after my yelling fit, it was hours before she regained the ability to use whole sentences.

High-This evening the same little girl asked me if she could make the juice for supper. I allowed her, but she was unable to dissolve all of the concentrate. I took the spoon and, with a few quick strokes, blended what remained.
Marina: I could not stir that hard. You are stronger.
Me:distracted in the rush to get supper on the table. You did a great job, baby. I just got the last little bit.
Marina: Someday, I will be strong and will be able to stir it all up.
Me: MmmHmm....
Marina: Someday, I will grow up and be a mommy. Just like you.

That's a great high. Though I secretly hope that she will be a much, much better Mommy than me.