Bonding Time

I love my daughter, but sometimes she can be very challenging. I left work early today so I could go exercise, so I was home when she and Alex got home. As per her usual routine, she smiled and waved when she first saw me, and then she excitedly rushed up to me to give me a hug. Just a short half hour later, she was pouting and whining. What happened in that time? I asked her to practice piano before she played with her friends.

She was downright ugly. It took her several minutes to finally sit down at the piano, and then for ten minutes she played piano while constantly pouting and saying that she didn't want to practice. Finally, when she was starting to stomp on the piano pedals, I sent her to stand against the corner. When she continued to whine and complain, I sent her to her room and told her that I wasn't going to take her to her friend's birthday party this evening.

All the stomping, banging, and doorbell ringing (from friends at the front door) by this time led to Eric awakening from his nap. After a few minutes, while I was busy with a clingy post-nap Eric, Natalie came out of her room sobbing and telling me that she was sorry. I gave her some hugs and we had a little talk about how she could have been finished practicing her piano and playing with her friends already. Basically we came to an understanding and she didn't whine or pout when she sat down to practice piano again.

So, because she apologized all on her own, I did end up taking her to her friend's birthday party. Natalie was fine doing her own thing instead of playing with her friends, so instead of sitting in the party room chatting with some of the adults, I followed her around as she played various games. Her favorite was Skee Ball, which was my favorite too. We even played one game together. She got so demonstrative, throwing her hands up in disgust when she didn't get a high score. It was all in fun, though, and it felt like good bonding time.

Yes, I love my daughter, but I worry about when she reaches puberty. Dealing with her moods is not going to get any easier.