...and she’s starting to throw tantrums. It’s hard to remember that I want to cultivate independence in someone who’s so experimental with it already.
I had a breakthrough yesterday. I was playing her guitar and she yanked it from my hands and threw it on the ground. Wanted to show me without a doubt that I had crossed a line by playing with her toys. I spanked her and told her she was not allowed to treat people or her belongings that way. Then I asked her to set the guitar down nicely and say no thank you. She cried. She screamed and cried, throwing herself on the floor. I picked her up and spoke softly to her. I asked her why she was upset. She couldn’t tell me because she was so upset. I asked her if she was upset she’d thrown her guitar. No. I asked her if she was upset I’d asked her to set it down nicely. No. I asked her if she was upset she’d gotten in trouble. Yes. I explained to her that Mama still loves her even when she’s in trouble. She was quite calm at this point, so I continued. I demonstrated with her guitar in pantomime. Do we throw our guitars? No. Do we smash our guitars into the floor? No. Do we set our guitars down gently? Yes. Can you show me how? And she did. She even patted it to tell it she was sorry. As far as the sharing part goes, we’re still working on it.
