The Three Year Old....Turns Into a Four Year Old

Well, I took a pretty long break. I apologize to all of my phantom fans. So sorry! Could have been the holidays. Yes, let us blame the holidays!

After the whole tragedy of the spanking we had a brief reprieve. It was nice. During this time I could dream that all of our whoas were now solved because we had finally followed God's advice on parenting. Sigh of relief - and no need to update this blog anymore! Problem solved! Seriously, Tom (that *is* his new blog name) and I both agreed it likely was no where near over. And we were correct. The next time Jasmine called me at work and had Edith in the office. She wanted me to speak to her on the phone, but Edith was beyond distraught and they could not get her near the phone. I could hear her, and she was in complete hysterics that her mom was on that phone. I told Jasmine I'd call Tom, and if she didn't hear back from me, he was on his way. Miraculously, I called him, and he actually jumped in his car right that very minute and drove down to Edith's school. Pigs can fly!!! He sat Edith down - actually stood her up in front of him - made her look him in the eye and say what happened and really chewed her a new one.

This made quite an impression. I know this, because a week or so later we were playing one of Edith's favorite games, where she is the mommy and I am the baby. We were playing school and I got in trouble, and she says to me with her hands on her hips, "You better behave, baby, or I will call your daddy, and he will come down here!" This time I began to ernestly hope it was over, but alas, no. We had maybe another two week break - that seems to be about our time span now. I keep spanking (alone). And in the meantime, Edith turned four. Now we have a four year old who bites, not a three year old!

At Edith's school they get different colored faces to describe their day - one face in the morning and one in the afternoon. So a green face is good, a yellow face is borderline, and a red face is bad. Needless to say, Edith gets a red face for biting. Well, last week, she got a yellow face for biting. Her teacher explained to me that since she didn't break the skin, they did not have to file and incident report, and so it was only a yellow. Then, when they put her in time alone, she tried to bite her teacher, but they stopped her, so it was okay. WOW. I think that's as earning of a red face as one can get, don't you? I'm thinking the teachers are getting in trouble (either by Jasmine or the other parents) so they must be trying to downplay it. If there's no incident report, then they don't have to tell the other parents it happened. That's what I'm thinking. Forgive me for being a cynic.

On this evening when we got home I sent her to her room to wait for me. I called Tom - he couldn't make it (which is to be expected as far as I'm concerned). I'm at my wit's end. Recently I had signed up for a new Sunday school class on parenting, which had not started yet. I'd read chapter one as my prework for class. I glared at Edith waiting on her bed and then went to my room to do a crash study on the book. I devoured it - I read 50% of the book in 10 minutes. Finally, I felt ready. I had advice on how to talk to her, how to spank her, and how to love her. I took a deep breath and went to her room. And the little poop had fallen asleep! Now what? Did she do this on purpose to avoid the situation? Did I make her wait to long and she dropped from emotional exhaustion? Do I wake her up? She looked so sweet and pitiful, still sitting up, fingers in her mouth to comfort herself. UGH!

I let her sleep about 30 minutes and then I woke her. I explained what was going to happen. I asked if she understood why it was going to happen and she said she did. I spanked her, how they said. And then she wanted to cuddle. We cuddled for about 30 minutes, until my stomach sounded like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. I pointed this phenomenon out to her and was awarded with a tiny giggle but also a tighter grip. The end result was I ended up cooking dinner just like in the old days, with her on my hip, only now she weighs about 25 more pounds than she did back then!

PS I just noticed I didn't finish the doctor story. That was a poor transition, I apologize. But he basically gave us the lamest, most unhelpful advice he could have provided. He said it was a phase. He said it would pass. He said some children bite. He said we should talk to her about it. He said we should not bite her back. He said everything you find in the first paragraph of the first web site when you google "three year old biting." He essentially let us know he thought we were bloody idiots for coming to a pediatrician because our child was biting. And that was a wrap. I was so NOT HAPPY. But, she needed the flu shot anyway, so I guess it was not a complete waste of time.

PPS I'd like to announce the next chapter will be about the new parenting Sunday school class experience, but you see how I failed to honor my last set up on the doctor office, so I hate to commit. We shall see!