{"id":713,"date":"2007-12-17T11:20:17","date_gmt":"2007-12-17T03:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mytwogirls.net\/?p=713"},"modified":"2007-12-17T11:36:05","modified_gmt":"2007-12-17T03:36:05","slug":"does-your-child-do-this-to-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mytwogirls.net\/?p=713","title":{"rendered":"Does Your Child Do This To You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Malaika’s mummy<\/a> tagged me couple of weeks ago, asking if I spare the rod when disciplining my girls.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t own a cane at home and I try not to smack Zara. However, at times when she really pushes me to the limit, I will smack her on the buttocks; E.g. the time when she pinned Zaria to the ground when Zaria tried to reach for a toy she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s holding; or when she broke an item in the house even though I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d repeatedly told her not to touch it.<\/p>\n

Most of the time, when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s misbehaving, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll put her in the naughty corner, set the timer, and told her she can only get out when the timer alarm goes off. Sometimes, she will even go there on her own when she knows she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done something wrong.<\/p>\n

Last 2 days, she really drove me up the walls. Not so about her behaviour, but the way she talked back. When we told her off for some mischief she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done, she said something like this, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hush!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to talk about it, ok?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span>, then turned her head to face the opposite side.<\/p>\n

Then yesterday, when she lifted her dress in a busy shopping mall, and later pulled down her dress so that her body was in full view of passer by, both Daddy and I told her, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Zara, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a very nice thing to do in public ok? You are a girl, please don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t show people your underwear or your body like that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span> She sulked big time, refusing to hold my hand when we walked to the car. Didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to sit on her car seat on our journey home, folded her arms and faced the car door throughout.<\/p>\n

I tried to coax her, by saying she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s our daughter, and we were only saying that so she knew right from wrong. She replied, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not your daughter. Zaria is your daughter. I am kakak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daughter.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Daddy said she must be tired (she didn’t nap the whole day) and becoming irrational. I tried to coax her still, by offering my hand for her to hold, by saying, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Come on, lets give each other a hug\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/span> I must be in one of my more \u00e2\u20ac\u02dczen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 state, because when she scratched my hand twice, and then slapped my face, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t smack her. I issued my last statement, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are a family, so please don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t behave like that, ok?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span> She pointed at me, daring me, and she said these slowly, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 are\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 not\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0family!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it. I walked away. Very very upset (actually I was really hurt!). That was when she cried and shouted, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I WANT MUMMY!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/span>MUMMY I’M SORRY!….WAAAAH\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span> And tried to hug me and not let me go.<\/p>\n

Daddy said I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take it too personally, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only 3 year old, and she is just like me, when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m tired, I like to use words to retaliate which I later regret.<\/p>\n

\"Zara<\/p>\n

This is The Look she gives, when she talks back<\/span><\/p>\n

Does your child do that to you? What would you have done if you were me? Should I invest in a cane now?<\/p>\n

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