I can only take so much sass from a teenager trapped in a toddler’s body. It’s borderline abuse. Really.
When Sophie returned from the pantry with Dexter’s dog bicuits, I told her to put them up because he was outside.
“But I just want to give him a biscuit,” she whined.
“No. He’s outside. He doesn’t need a biscuit right now.”
“BUT…I JUST want to give him a biscuit.”
“No, Sophie. Not now. He’s out! SIDE!”
“BUT! I JUST WANT TO GIVE HIM A BISCUIT!” Shriek, shrill, shrill.
“NO. You’re not giving him a biscuit right now!”
“YES me am!” Sob, sob, sob.
“NO you’re not!”
“DON’T SAY THAT! I mam (am)!”
“NO you’re NOT! I’m the boss!”
“NO, I’M THE BOSS!”
Heavy sigh…
If she doesn’t want to do what she’s told—take a nap, pick up toys, take a nap, go to bed, take a nap (There’s a theme here.)—she says, “No ma’am.”
Well, she’s polite about it. But when I insist, her “no ma’ams” get a little more high pitched.
My attempts to direct her strong-will towards obedience are wearing me down. But I’m just not willing to surrender. How much “be quite, Mommy”, “STOPPPP, MOMMM”, “NO you DON”T say that”, “No ME NOT”,can a mom take?
And if that’s not enough… when I demand that she STOP sassing me or she can’t think of something at the moment (I’m not quite sure which one.) she clicks her tongue on the roof of her mouth and shakes her head back and forth. Sometimes she defies me with several clicks.
It’s just awful.
This evening after taking a bath with her, I’d had just about enough of her whining and sassing. I plopped her on the potty and began dressing her and brushing her hair. A meltdown ensued.
“DON’T! STOPPPP it, MOMMY!”
“Don’t tell me to stop it! You don’t sass me, Sophie.”
“BE QUIET!”
“THAT’S IT! Mom told you not to sass! No more T.V. for the rest of the day!”
After much wailing and gnashing of teeth and insisting that I “DON’T turn the T.V. off”, she tried to apologize. “I’m sorry, Mommy!”
“Okay, I’m glad you’re sorry. I forgive you but you still have to be punished.”
“NO, I’m NOT PUNISHED!?”
Good grief.
She IS still punished. At the moment she’s in time out. I told her to come back in my room because Courtney is watching T.V. in the living room and she’s punished from T.V. She shook her head and made a noise with her mouth. It sounded like she was trying to spit at me. So I put her in time out.
Is there support out there?
As I type she whines, “I’m through whining!” Like that’s why she’s in time out. She does that often. I KNOW she knows why she’s there. And just in case she doesn’t, I remind her when it’s time for her to get up. Just like Supernanny.
Did you catch that she whines while she tells me she’s not whining?
That scenario just played out. Then I told her she could go get a few more toys to bring in my room to play but she could not stay in the living room because “she’s punished from the T.V.”
So she agrees with me and heads to the living room to “get her toys” throwing a very pitful, “sorry”, my way.
But she’s still in there.
I’m losing, aren’t I?
…still the Boss?
Insert Grace Here...
You are in fact winning. Victory is yours. It may not feel like it in these times but your child is talking and communicating with you and that is always a victory.
Hang in there.