Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Strong Willed Child

My sweet, gentle Jillian has recently been showing signs that she will not always be sweet and gentle. What is the cause? Who knows....the entrance of Rocco, the fact that she is now 2, maybe because I am back at work, somedays she does not get a good nap??? The fact is somedays she is HARD to deal with. The girl knows what she wants and has no problems telling you. I wanna watch a bideo, I want to go to the park right now, I want cheez-its, I want choco, etc., etc. This I could deal with OK but it is also in combination with aggression towards poor Rocco. On most days, the girl just can't seem to be gentle with him.

Somedays she will surprise me. For example, last night she was pretty darn sweet to Rocco (in Jillian standards). She asked to hold him, gave him lots of hugs and kisses. But she always yells/screams in his face. She refuses to whisper. And yes, she knows how to whisper b/c we practice.

I asked my mom for advice. Where does she get this behavior? My mom looked right at me and answered with, "Ashley, when you were little I bought the Strong Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson." Oh, I guess she gets it from me. Great!
So here it is, I got the book but have not read it yet. Hopefully, it is just a stage. Hopefully she will grow out of it. Hopefully, my sweet, loving, gentle girl will return shortly. If not, then maybe Dr. Dobson can help.

1 comment:

Derek and Shanna said...

I think a lot of it has to do with her age. Cooper (who is now three) also has some issues with his new cousin. Don't get me wrong, he loves Poppy June, but the other day my mom told me that Poppy was screaming in her carseat and Cooper kept yelling at her to be quiet. When she didn't stop my mom looked back to see him about to throw the vidoe cover at her. He also doesn't understand not to "yell" at her. He loves her, but wants to get right up in her face to talk in a loud voice. I don't know if it is because he thinks that because she is little she is deaf and therefore, he must yell at her. Who knows...... Good luck.