promise woke up at 5:30 this morning and stayed awake in her crib until i got her at 6:30. then, for her first nap she slept about 55 minutes (this is typically 1.5 - 2 hour nap). all that to say, she was tired. very tired.
so at lunch, i offered her chicken, cucumbers, and.... mandarin oranges. these are a rare treat because i can only find them canned in water at dierbergs (meaning no sugar or artificial sweeteners), and i don't go to dierbergs all that often.
well, she loved the oranges so much that she ignored her other food. that's fine. i let her choose what she eats. the problem came when she ate all the oranges on her tray and wanted more. she could see them on the table but couldn't reach them. this is always the case - i keep her plate of food on the table and give her more as she asks for it (using sign language). there's the rub - she
rather than do the simple sign that she has been able to do for, what? at least a month, she would reach forward and scream at the oranges. that is not okay in my book! i can't stand screaming! so i showed her the sign and ignored her for a minute and went back to eating my food. nothing. so i took her hands and said "lets do it together", did the sign, and said "thank you for asking nicely. here are some more oranges."
yeah, we did that three times and then she stiff armed me! refused to do the sign even with my help! i vaguely remember reading in babywise II about turning the high chair away from the table for a virtual "time out" to help deal with table manners. i don't remember very clearly because when i read it we were not having any of the issues it described. today we had issues coming out our ears, so hey, why not? i will be reading that book again tonight.
i turned her around and told her she could cry until she had a happy heart. this took about 30 seconds, she started laughing, and i turned her back around (in the mean time the dog took the chicken off her tray!), where she promptly started screaming at the oranges again.
so, she screamed while i finished my salad and then we did the sign for "all done" together and ended lunch. sigh. kids are hard work. good thing i'm so crazy about that girl!
i know this is completely normal. i know all kids have meltdowns. if you tell me your kid didn't i will call you a liar, and possibly never speak to you again. seriously though, its not fun to discipline your kids - even when it is just turning them away from the table for 30 seconds. i hope i never have to spank her! ha.
oh yeah, and she teething. that doesn't help her mood at all.
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