MISS INDEPENDENT

Liv is going through a little bit of a difficult stage as of late. If you are a mother, I am sure you know of this ever so lovely one. The one where they decide they want to do everything for themselves without an ounce of your help.

This is all fine and good, except that every time she attempts something that is impossible for a gal her age to accomplish she gets very, very frustrated. This frustration eventually forces her to give up on the task at hand and most often ends in her throwing herself on the ground in an all out temper tantrum. And these are not your standard run o' the mill tantrums, these are tantrums of mass proportions. The crying slowly starts, then she adds a little stomping of the feet to the crying, then the crying grows louder and louder until she is all out screaming, which then leads to her plopping her little butt down on the ground and flailing about. Bad, right? And it can get worse believe it or not - sometimes she will actually lay down on the ground and kick her arms and legs about like a crazy woman while doing all of the things mentioned above.

So you see, she really goes all out when she has a tantrum.

Lately, I have been putting her in the time out chair in order for her to start learning that this behaviour is not acceptable; and it is working. Don't get me wrong, the tantrums still happen, but after spending a minute in the time out chair, she gets down, comes over to me, gives me a big ol' squeeze and plops a big wet one on my cheek. So she gets it.

Anyway, today was one of those days where she decided to have one of those tantrums of hers, and it all revolved around her attempting to get dressed all by herself.

Here she is, teddy bear butt and all, attempting to put her dress on.

Did not work out so well so she threw it on the ground and walked away. A few minutes later she went back to pick it up and try again, and again was not successful.

Surprisingly, she simply gave up and stood in the kitchen with her eyes glued to the T.V. Apparently she was very into watching The View.

All was well in the world, until she decided she was not happy about being unable to get that dress on and the tantrum ensued. And it was a doozy - she had herself so worked up. So worked up that tears were streaming down her face, boogers were running out of her nose and landing right in her mouth and she did not even miss a beat.

As I sit here typing this, she is still running around the house in her little teddy bear butt tights and nothing else. Frankly, this is just fine with me, as I don't even want her to lay her eyes on that dress that started that Godforsaken tantrum in the first place.

Before I know it she will learn how to dress herself, and do all of the other many things that get her tantrums up and running in full force. One day.

Patience is a virtue - I have to keep telling myself that.