Boundaries

Saturday, Darren went fishing for the day so I decided Little Miss and I would have a fun day together. Sure, there were dishes to be done and floors to be hoovered (vacuumed) but the playground was calling! Who am I to resist!
Again, the place was jam-packed! Can someone please tell me what on earth 13-15 year old kids are doing on a playground? I mean, surely it's not the "cool thing" to do?
There is a kind of big round basket on the swings that seems to have a magical, magnetic pull on these teenagers. One will lie down on his back and the others will push him/her as high as possible. Apart from "hogging" the swings (they also sit on the swings adjacent to this basket) it freaks me the F out that these kids are so rough and inconsiderate! I mean, it's a playground, there are going to be little kids toddling around! They swing so high, that they have zero control. One of these days some poor toddler is going to get his head kicked in by one of these lugs. The idea alone makes me livid. ( Me anger issues? Surely you jest)

I do realize I sound like the old lady that would knife your ball if it was to land in her garden, and I don't mean to be. But after spending an afternoon keeping Little Miss away from an area in the playground she has every right to be in made me just a little bit angry! I think a good rule would be:
Facial Acne = No more playground access. Unless you have a smaller child to mind you just have no business there!

She was having a great time all the same though. Bright colors everywhere, a little Wendy house, Slides.
And then the unthinkable happened. She left the playground of her own accord! I was right behind her, but she opened the gate and decided we were going for a walk!
(Immediately images raced through my mind of her opening the gate and walking out without us noticing. The fence can give a bit of a false sense of security..... But, like I said in the last playground post, I intend to NEVER not notice anything again!)
We walked down a little pier and watched the waves. It was so nice! It was a sunny, warm day. She was in great form and I was just SO HAPPY!
Until we had to go....... Hell hath no fury like a Caíthlyn scorned! The tantrum she threw! If it wasn't so annoying it would have been impressive!
Like a true Drama Queen she hurled herself unto the tarmac (I checked her legs, no scrapes. Goddess only knows how she managed to remain scrape free) She cried, she screamed. She begged, she pleaded...... it was quite the show.
I did get a bit worked up about it but then I took a step back and told myself "This is that boundary-testing thing you were told about! She needs to know where her limits are." And once you look at it from the angle of "I am doing her a favor by showing her the boundaries and putting my foot down" it becomes a lot easier to deal with. Supernannie explains it really well in her book. If you were to walk in to a bank to lodge a cheque and all of a sudden you were told you were the new manager there, you would be lost! You do not have the skills to deal with this new situation and it would scare and confuse you.
Kids ACT like they know what they want, but there subconscious really want to be given safe boundaries to trust.
So, one of my new mantra's is:"It's for her own good....It's for her own good....It's for her own good....It's for her own good...."

After the playground we went to Nannie's house and Little Miss fell asleep for about three minutes on the way there. When she woke up she was in great form again! That's my daughter: The world ending one moment, sunshine all around the next!

On Sunday we went to a birthday party for Cousin (Well, it's Darren's cousin's daughter) J.'s 10th birthday party in Funtasia. Holy God(dess)!! Flashing lights, slippery floors, screaming children. Pure madness! However, I am quite sure it's pure Heaven for kids! There was a little climb and slide area for kids under 4 years of age and Little Miss and Cousin E. had a fabulous time there!
She looked so cute sitting at the party table with the big kids! I was sure she was going to be wrecked by the time we went home but not only did she not fall asleep on the way home, she also did not want to go to sleep at bed-time.

We have been sticking at this "Do not take her out of her cot at bed time when she cries thing" for weeks now but it's not really catching on! Sometimes we get lucky, but that was the case before too.
When she cries, we will leave her for about 10 minutes, console her, and leave again. If anybody has any tips on how else to go about it, please share.
However, don't say: "Just don't go in at all." Because A: The Mammy Heart can't take that B: The Daddy heart can't take that C: The child will cry for AGES! And I just don't see myself having the kind of funds that can pay for the shrinks bills when this all comes back to her in a adolescence......