Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Beware of the Baby Bear

When someone gets hurt at Emma and Allison’s daycare, the child is given a piece of ice wrapped in a paper towel or a sterile glove. So, when the girls get hurt at home, often they want to get one of the ice packs out of the freezer. The ice is rarely used for long. The mere presence of it seems to sooth them ~ or at least provides acknowledgement of their injury.

Last night, Emma twisted her ankle while dancing to a song and saying, “Mommy, can you do this?” Danny got her the pink kitty ice pack. Wouldn’t you know it, one of Allison’s boo boos from the other day started to hurt, too. When Danny went to get her some ice, Emma asked for the blue ice pack instead. It wasn’t long before she didn’t want it any more. After she gave it to me, I stuck it under her shirt. She didn’t appreciate this until after I did the same thing to Ally and Ally giggled.

After I put the ice on Emma’s neck so that she could giggle, I told her to “Go get Daddy.” Emma ran over there and put the ice pack on his back. He squealed and giggled and told Emma to “Go get Mommy.” When she didn’t, he ran over to me and put it down my shirt. It was a fun little game, but my reaction must have led Allison to believe that Danny had hurt me. She became very upset and told Danny to stop hurting me. She wasn’t in his face wagging her finger at him, but all of that was implied in her tone. We didn’t take this too seriously right away. She doesn’t like anyone to touch me that much. Danny and I can’t hug or talk in her presence without her trying to stop us. Even after we said that it was just play, she laid down on the couch and was very sad. It took a good deal of explaining and reassurance for her to feel better about what happened. Emma and Danny kept icing each other to help prove the point.

Momma Bear’s Baby Bear is a spunky one. She lets you know exactly what she thinks. It doesn’t matter if you are her parent, sibling, teacher, or friend. You will hear from her if you piss her off. If you start a fight, she’ll finish it. I wouldn’t mess with her Momma if I were you.

2 comments:

Trista said...

You don't need to be assertive yourself - just sic Ally on your foes!

Your girls are so empathetic - such a wonderful trait! You've definitely done something right there!!

DD said...

I certainly hope you and Danny do not limit your affection for each because of Ally. She needs to feel confident that you can love both your husband and her equally.