Addi is a screamer, a door slammer, and a crier. By this I mean there are many times when she runs to her room, screaming and crying about an injustice that's been done to her, and often ends with her slamming her door. We have alternated our approach from insisting she shut the door nicely, to threatening to remove her door, to our latest approach... ignore her for 5-10 minutes, then when she comes back downstairs give her a snack, wait 10 more minutes for her blood sugar to rise, then calmly talk through the issue.
Basically, feeding the beast is the most reliable of all parenting tactics.
Luckily those episodes seem to be happening less these days, and my ears are so grateful. There are many times when I think only dogs can hear the high pitch sounds coming from this child's mouth. Jay attributed it to her growing up and maturing, and I thought that could be part of it. However, I have since changed my mind.
A few weeks ago Addi stormed off, sobbing, and I waited for the inevitable "Bang". Ten minutes passed and the house remained silent. When I could swear I heard a butterfly thinking (it was really, really quiet) I headed up to investigate and saw what had been keeping her so occupied.
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| The "Note" |
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| The basket for her rations |
After reading her sad, sad note I asked her why she wrote it. She said, "I'm staying in my room for the rest of my life! Nothing will make me come out!" I said, "That's so sad. But what will you do when you have to go to the bathroom?"
She started at me, totally flabbergasted. I guess stumping her also results in silence. I'll tuck that nugget into my parenting book.
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