Parenting

Oh what a beautiful morning, Oh what a beautiful day…..

…So I’ll spend it inside blogging a blog and watching trash TV.
Parenting like a pro……

A couple of weeks ago we had to reintroduce the tick system.

You know the one, if there’s good behaviour a tick is received, if a certain amount of ticks are received a treat is on the cards (I know there are probably some parents who find this a horrendous act but it’s literally the only thing that works with Aoife and I don’t have the energy to argue black is white daily so no apologies from me).

Anyway.

We’ve had two brilliant weeks. She’s been back to her lovely, kind old self.
We’ve had conversations instead of rows.
She seems to actually like me.
It’s been fantastic (this is not to say that other times are not fantastic, they’re just ‘difficult’)

The only little issue is Aoife doesn’t seem to have learnt how to ‘behave’ better (that’s a really bad way to put it. I’m not a dictator, honest) instead she’s just been suppressing the not so good behaviour and now she’s starting to bubble…..

It starts small.

“Does decent mean safe?”
“No, it means like good”
“And safe?”
“No it’s nothing to do with safe”
“But it could mean safe”
“No it couldn’t. It means good”
“You’re not listening to me, decent could mean safe”
“No, no it couldn’t. A word has a meaning and you can’t just change it.”
“MUMMY YOU’RE NOT LISTENING, IT COULD MEAN SAFE”
“But it couldn’t. It doesn’t. You don’t have to argue with everything I say and you can’t argue with fact”
“Urgh. I’m not going to bother talking if you just ignore me!”
“I’M NOT IGNORING YOU, YOU’RE IGNORING ME!”
Needless to say, she’s still talking.

We’ve also had a lot of….

“I do not like your attitude!”
“You’re being rude.”
“I won’t be listening to you anymore!”

These are just some of the gems Aoife has come out with over the last few weeks. I know it’s pretty cheeky stuff from a 5 year old. Ultimately she’s just copying what she hears from us around her (except the last one. Not listening is not an option)
I’ll be honest, I’d probably laugh if it was someone else’s child but it’s actually pretty bloody frustrating.

“Aoife, we don’t call people stupid. Don’t do that again please”
“Don’t you dare say that to me again, you’re being so rude Mummy”
Or
“Please can you get in the bathroom and get undressed for bed? I’ve asked you three times”
“I don’t like your attitude telling me what to do, stop it”

Where do I go from there?
How can I communicate with her that certain behaviours aren’t so good when she’s just turning it around and using it back on me.
BUT I’M NOT EVEN BEING NAUGHTY.

It’s like having a teenager already.
Rory has already declared his intention to move out for Aoife’s teenage years. To be honest, I think it’d be better for me to move out for those years, we may have more survivors then!

“Morning, how did you sleep”
“Nooooo don’t ask me that”
“OK, what’s wrong?”
“Nooooooo”
“Oooooookaaaaayyyy”
“Ask me again”
“Ask you what?”
“The questions”
“How did you sleep?”
“NOO NOT THAT QUESTION. ASK ME THE QUESTIONS IN ORDER”
“I don’t know what you mean. Are you OK?”
“Ask me the questions properly”
“I don’t know what questions I’m meant to ask!”
“The questions you ask me”
“Do you want to go to your room, then come back and start today again?”
“THAT’S NOT THE QUESTION!’
* hides under covers*

Oh tricky times!

Anyway, by my reckoning it’s Pimms O’clock (in the fantasy world in my head).
Enjoy!

Thanks for reading, I'd love to know what you think.

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