Pretending to be the mindful parents people believe us to be, S and I are trying to figure out WHY E might be behaving this way (this morning she was delightful again, but I have no faith). We've come up with some ideas.
1. Not feeling well. Yesterday she complained about her stomach hurting, and she farted a lot, so gas could explain yesterday's extremity, though I don't think she's had gas for ten days.
2. A's imminent departure. Her best friend from school is moving three towns away and his last day is the Wednesday before Thanksiving. She talks about this a lot.
3. General minor upheaval. We had guests the last two weekends. I have been working a lot more--and a lot more visibly to her. I have been out more than she is used to recently. She is almost always with S or a grandparent when I'm not there, and both girls like their new babysitter (who has gotten E to bed without tears three times in a row!), but she has passionately expressed her displeasure at my absences. Ironically, S has been working less and home more, but that could still count as upheaval.
4. Swimming. I just have a gut feeling that the physical exertion and anxiety (diving off the block, learning new strokes) of swimming might be stressing her, though she claims to love it.
I guess, cumulatively, all that might make a little girl fussy, though the rest of us are fine with it (M, by contrast, is great these days, and I think swimming is an important part of it).
2 comments:
I'll have to go with the cumulative effect. Some kids just don't know what to do with all of that stuff going on and get wonky. Tyler was like that. But he's really outgrown it and turned into such a level-headed, easy-going guy. Is that because he had to learn to deal with all of the upheaval? Because Lawdy there was a LOT of upheaval in his life...Who knows.
Ummm. You may not like my theory. Nevertheless, for the love of E, I must tell you. Some people are eccentric, hard-to-fathom, sensitive, smarter than we realize, and fully tentacled, in the sense that all events are experienced and interpreted on a level that may not be wholly comparable to one's age. From a purely practical perspective, these bouts have been happening since the gal was tiny. That's one huge personality you got there: breathe deeply.
She has excellent parents and she knows it.
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