DRAMA Don't Work on MAMA!

Yesterday, Avery pulled the funniest/saddest manipulation tactic I have ever heard her try. I took away her Resurrection Eggs for the day because of something she did to Brynn. Then, within about 10 minutes, she wanted to watch the Mrs. Pattycake Easter video and do the eggs along with it. I said no, reminding her of her punishment. She huffed off to her room, and then the REAL drama began…

Now, she was back in her room all by herself, and I heard her start ranting in this half crying/half whining voice. She was saying so much that I turned on the monitor to listen, and this is just PART of what I heard. I missed the whole beginning, and once I started listening, she said so much that I couldn't even remember it all! She was saying all of this completely to herself because I had closed the door. (I think she was hoping I'd hear it all and be so sad for her that I'd change my mind and let her play with those eggs after all!) This is some of what I actually REMEMBER hearing...(words in all caps were spoken with extra emotion.)

"I am SO SAD right now. NOBODY likes me and I don’t have ANY friends – not Carlie, Lilla, Anna, or Reagan (these are all the girls in her class @ school)....not Mommy, Brynn, Daddy, or Asa… The only person who is my friend is Baylor (her cousin)…SHE is the only person who is NICE to me because EVERYBODY else is mean to me. I wish I could go live with HER family….but THEY don’t have room for me….I wish I could just DIE and go to heaven to be with God and Jesus and all the other people that died like Pops (my grandfather) and Mrs. Patricia's dog who gotted killed in the fire (our neighbor's house caught fire last fall)…And I don’t have ANY pretty things. None of my CLOTHES are pretty. I don't have any pretty DOLLS, no pretty CLOTHES, no pretty TOYS…and I can’t even FIND my pretty lamb that I gotted for Easter" ...and on and on and on!!!!

It was COMPLETE drama from beginning to end. Needless to say, I had heard about enough when she got to the "no pretty clothes or toys" part, so I had to jump in there and have a “chat” about trying to manipulate me using this type of drama and that it WON'T work. We talked about how the things she said were not true at all, but were used to try to make me feel sorry for her and change my mind about her punishment. I told her that there are plenty of children in Africa that would love all of her toys and clothes, and if she doesn't appreciate them, I'd be glad to ship them to some children who would. We talked about how God put her in the perfect family and that if she died we would all be so sad. She got the message and was fine after some hugs and kisses (even though she still couldn't watch Mrs. Pattycake and play with the eggs).

All I could think is that I hope this isn’t a taste of the teenage years! I must confess it broke my heart to hear her say those things. But I know she didn't mean any of it, and I better get some thick skin because I'm here to be her Mom and not her friend! I am hoping that MAYBE she will learn now that this won't work on me and won't even try it as a teenager. Parenting is SOOOO hard sometimes...especially the discipline part!