The Plan

Yesterday got worse and worse. Didn't I say I expected it though. It's how it always is with the little one. She has 5 steps forward and then 4 back. Her behaviors continued yesterday. She didn't even hide them. I would turn my back and she would do them in my family room. I was trying not to make things miserable for her but still keep her under my eye. She tore up the books I gave her to read and peed 3 times without using the potty. And lastly she threw some huge tantrums in her room that could wake up the other kids. Pretty much she was telling me to go to you know where.

DH sent me off to the grocery store to pay for some dog food. (He bought 3 bags and then saw on his receipt that he had paid for two so he thought it was best that we got this taken care of immediately since dog food is so expensive. I think he knew I needed a break.)

Last night I didn't know exactly what I was going to do. DH and I talked and came up with some ideas. Then at 5:30 this morning I got up and headed for my knees. I presented my ideas to my Father in Heaven and hoped he would give me the thumbs up or thumbs down. I then parked my behind and read my scriptures for a while. I read in Mosiah 23:15 "Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them." I need to work on the contention aspect. So I am going to try to take out the contention. There are consequences and choices. But I need to try to eliminate adding to contention.

A little later I read in 24:14 "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

With this comfort I started my day. I was pleasant to the little one. I told her she was going to have to earn her privileges back. She got ready for preschool and we left. On the way to preschool we talked about consequences and S said, "I don't get to choose the consequences but I get to choose what I do." (Can you tell we talk about this a bunch?) She was so pleased with herself because she is in charge of that. She smirked away as we drove there. Then, as we pulled into the parking lot (it's a very big parking lot) I asked her what the consequence was that I told her the day before before she continued to act out. She replied that it was no preschool today. Then we saw the school bus that was to take them on their field trip and drove out of the parking lot. It clicked pretty quickly. I hope it was a good lesson. I just couldn't reward that behavior. I called her teacher to tell her and told her how I really wished I could drop her off as my day would be so much easier but that I couldn't because she didn't earn it. It would also make the teachers look like them weren't in control because as we left yesterday one of them told her to not do it so she could go on the field trip. S wouldn't think they were in control of things at school if they looked like they were just saying things that didn't happen.

We are home. I am keeping things calm. I let her earn playing with the piano by lining up all the shoes that were in the hall. Then she started being mean with it and that had to be taken away. But I'm not letting it get to me. I can handle this. I have to.

On the other hand, D is doing great. That's a positive.