“Eden, do you want to wear the grey shirt or the red shirt?”
“Neither.”
“Okay. Adaleine, do you want to wear the grey shirt or the
red shirt?”
“The red shirt!”
“Alrighty then! Looks like Adaleine’s wearing the red and
Eden’s wearing the grey!”
Weep and gnashing of teeth.
This was the beginning of a thirty-minute meltdown about how
the boys will make fun of her for wearing a grey shirt and they will say it’s a
boy’s shirt. Then further into the abyss of tantrumdom when I suggested she
splash some water on her face to help her calm down. Then the world almost
stopped turning when she explained to me – while staring at her red and teary
face in the mirror – that iiiiiittttt
waaaaaaaaassssnnnnnn’t heeeeelllllllpiiiiiiinnnngggg.
Seriously.
Then I lost my cool and shouted at her that I wasn’t going
to listen to my seven-year-old daughter throw a fit like a little baby about a
shirt. Then she cried some more and I noticed a little stream of snot flowing
from her nose. Isn’t it funny how my daughter was throwing a royal tantrum in
the bathroom and all I could think was I
need to add tissues onto my list for the store.
The problem is if she had just freaking told me that she didn’t
want to wear the grey shirt because she thought the boys would make fun of her,
I probably would have listened! I would have told her that boys are stupid and
they have no idea about things like that, but if she didn’t want to wear the
shirt she didn’t have to. But then she threw a fit.
Tough choice here, folks. The logic is sound(ish) but the
attitude was all wrong.
I’m torn between being a tough mom who won’t take crap from
my daughter about a shirt and being
an understanding mom who doesn’t want some dumb boys making fun of her.
Rock, meet Hard Place.
This is parenting.
