My three year old is a little bitch. I am not saying this to be funny. This is not something I am proud of. But she is.
I have noticed her talking back and demanding things for some time now. For the most part, I stay calm and basically explain that 1) There is NO WAY I am going to give her what she wants if she is going to be a brat about it, and 2) Just because she decides to ask again, with the sad eyes and a whiney voice and gives me a great big "PLEEEEEEEEASE" doesn't mean she will get what she wants. This method is not working.
Lila is turning into a total bitch. When I am driving somewhere she wants to go and I (God Forbid) stop at a red light, she sees it as her place to yell "GO MOMMY!" at the top of her lungs, as if I am just trying to keep her from having a good time. Time after time I turn around and tell her "I am the driver. I am the Mommy. I decide when to go." This method is not working.
I (half) jokingly told her father that she was getting to that age where I should strap her to the couch and play Mommie Dearest for her so she could see what happens when mommies are pushed to their emotional limits and they think their kids are ingrateful little brats. (Of course, I realize that this is not the intended moral of the movie, but in light of the fact that time-outs are a joke and she doesn't care when I take things away or with -hold treats, I think it may work as an effective tool in scaring the sass out of my kid).
Yesterday we went to Wal-Mart (I will not digress into how much I hate Wal-Mart and everything it stands for and everyone in it) and we were trying to hurry. First there was the hissy fit when I said we couldn't buy a $40 Play-Doh set. Then there was the refusing to hold my hand and running off. Then there was the refusal to leave. I kept cool. There was NO WAY I was going to be that trashy mother yelling at her kid in the shampoo aisle at the Wal Mart. When we finally got out to the car, she insisted on climbing into her car seat herself. And I thought, "she's three...she needs to feel like she can do it herself," even though I was in a hurry to get to the bank before it closed. She got into the seat and I started to buckle her in and she said, "I wanna do it." "No baby," I replied. This is pretty hard to do and I just want to get out of here, okay?" The response she gave me took me off guard at first:
"I WILL DO IT NOW MOMMY!!!"
I felt the surging desire to slap her little mouth like my mother would do when I got overly sassy. I wanted to...I really, for about half a second thought that it would be the best thing I could do...Maybe it was just the fact that I was in the Wal Mart parking lot, but I felt like swearing at her at the top of my lungs and slapping her.
But I didn't. I put my hands on both sides of her face so she was looking right at me and said, as lovingly as I could at that moment, "If you talk to me like that again, I will slap your little sassy mouth." Perhaps threatening isn't much better than the actual thing, but she sure was quiet on the ride home. I almost think that THIS method may have worked.
For the record, I have never hit her. Never spanked or slapped or grabbed her roughly by the arm (or ear). I have a good handle on my temper and I know I would never forgive myself. But there are times when I can see myself doing it, in my mind, clear as day, and I wonder if perhaps spanking couldn't work on certain types of kids (the crazy ones). Because as much as I want Lila to be an independent and happy kid, I want her to be respectful and polite just as much. Not just because it makes ME insane, but because she needs to know that you have to be courteous and nice to function in a society with other people.
If I were to be completely honest, I would have to admit that she probably gets the attitude from me. I raise my voice a lot. And I find myself saying those dreaded words that every parent swears they will never say:
"Because I'm the MOMMY, that's why."
And for now, that's the only thing that kid needs to understand. Because being a super bitch in our house is MY job.
LOL been there.
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