subtitle: "why my eldest is a pill"
I really felt like I needed to get the kids out of the house today, and decided to take them to a farm/nature center with a playground not too far from our house. Except we got lost on the way there, and then I found a playground, but after playing there for a while, I figured out that it wasn't the right one. So I got the girls back in the car, but once we got closer, I figured out the farm section of the park cost money, and since we would only be there for a few minutes by that point, we turned around and headed home. (It was not a complete failure; they probably don't think it was a failure at all. The girls got to play for a long time on a new playground, and got to listen to their favorite CD (all the songs!) while we drove around.)
As we started driving away though, Babs started yelling about needing to go to the barn. Then Kiddo (in a chilling and humbling imitation of me) snaps at Babs that "we can't go to the barn today! so stop whining! stop crying, we're not going to the farm today! or tomorrow because it's preschool tomorrow!" Yet Babs continues her cries for the barn. I eventually get them both calmed down.
We decided to go to a fast food place for lunch, because I thought it would be fun for us (and by golly, it was part of my plan!). I debated a couple places in my head, and then took us to Wendy's. As we pulled into the parking lot, Kiddo announced she didn't want to go to this one. So, I pulled out of the parking lot, and tried to figure out where she wanted to go. She expressed that she wanted to go to the one with the picture of the girl. Since that's where we had been, I turned around to take us back. But she did not want to be there. So while sitting in the parking lot with them, I tried again to determine which place she would like to go to.
A disclamor: you may wonder why I'm letting my child dictate my life to me like this. I wonder too. But, we've been fighting a lot lately. And as I've pondered and prayed about this, I've clearly felt that her yelling at me is not only a reaction to me yelling at her (which has stopped), but is also both a request for love, and an expression of frustration that she doesn't get more of a say in her life. So I'm trying to give her more of say in the decisions where I can. Thus two weeks ago we sat in the very front pew at church. And, since one fast food place (or hamburger store, as we call them around here) is as good for you as the next, I saw this as a place to let her decide.
So back to our story, I was attempting to find out where she wanted to go. I explained: "There are three hamburger stores that we go to. There is Wendy's which is the place with the picture of the girl. There is Burger King. And there is McDonald's. But we usually don't go there because Mama doesn't like that one." As soon as I said it, I knew I had said the wrong thing (for getting to a place I wanted to go to).
"Well I like McDonald's best," announced Kiddo (anything to not agree with me). "That's where we need to go," she continued, with a very opinionated tone. And that's where we went.
