sugar and spice -part 2

Back in June I made a post called 'Sugar and Spice and everything nice?'. I was having one of those days when you wonder if your kids just might push you over the edge at some point in the very near future, and if what I am doing as a mother is really working. I re-read that post today, and just as I had thought, I can look back and laugh at the humor of the whole situation. Today I had an experience with that same sweet, darling 3 year old, and wondered again...Am I doing this right?

Last night, Olivia was in a cross mood and had it in her mind to be naughty, consistently naughty. After about an hour, I simply said, you can choose to obey, or you can choose to go to bed. She chose to disobey and was sent to bed. Mind you it was only 30 minutes before bedtime anyhow, so it wasn't as though she was banished to solitary confinement for hours on end. The theatrics and tantrums were epic. An outsider might think that she was being tortured or tormented. Anyhow, this morning, she was still stuck in that cross mood- you know the "why do I have to pick up my toys", and "why do you make me do chores", and "I don't want to eat that for breakfast!" mood. Anyhow, after a small scolding for her choice of words spoken to me, she said, "I wish I weren't a part of this family!" She then told me that she wanted to be a part of her friends family, because their mom was nice. I have to tell you quite honestly, that I was not yet prepared for an emotional blow like that. I figured I had at least 10 years before the teenage years were here and I had to worry about her not liking me.

So what do you do with a child who has to push the boundaries, who constantly needs to test your limits as a parent? I suppose in life we all like to kick against the pricks sometimes, and at times we all wonder why we have to have rules and boundaries. Life would be easier if we could just do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, without any consequences. Experience tells me that this is just a phase and she will grow out of it, but if any of you have experience in this department that you would like to share, I am all ears....