Up until this point I thought the hardest things to teach a kid was
1. How to blow their own nose
2. How to swing on a swing by themselves.
I was wrong. I've encountered something harder...how to see the world in a positive light or how to answer in a positive way.
***A disclaimer here - the child I am about to talk about is riddled with my genes. She is more like me than her father...so I will take 90% of the blame for inflicting her with this problem...***
If you were to ask my eldest beloved daughter how her day went, chances are that she would say 'Not good' accompanied by drooping shoulders and a sulky face. In her world, no one likes her, our family is no good, we don't love her and on and on it goes. She usually starts her sentences with the word NO and has lately burst into tears when challenged about her viewpoint on life.
If I was to dare ask her to name 3 good things that happened in a day or 3 things that she is thankful for, it could take her up to an hour to think of those things. Usually I lose my cool after about 3 minutes of her hemming and hawing that I throw her into her bedroom for a time out.
It is inconceivable to me that she is like this. She has been raised in a family (as imperfect as we are) that is openly affectionate, quick with praise, teaching around faith, has lots of friends and family around and a ridiculous amount of "stuff" to play with.
Pookie's middle name is Joy. We named her that because after so many years of trying we were overjoyed to be having her. I guess my wish is that she would live into that name.
As I was doing my morning blog reading I came across this Momversation video at Finslippy(it is the second one). I don't think Pookie is ungrateful for her stuff, I think it is more her outlook on life that needs a bit of tweaking/managing/reshuffle....Alice Bradley and I have similar kids.
I am asking for comments, suggestions, a kick in the ass if you will...Help me with this!
No comments:
Post a Comment