The Upside To a Drama Queen

3rd post for the day...

To put it mildly, Jordan is spirited. I love that new PC term for ornery and strong-willed. It is an angelic term for hard-headed, stubborn, and having a less than obedient spirit by nature. Yeah, saying she is spirited makes it sound nicer, less like I am bad mouthing my own daughter :) Well, today was a day when my ornery determined daughter decided to try her mother's own resolve and patience. The day really did start out fine, until it was time to leave. We were supposed to meet friends to play and walk at 11:00. At 11:00 (already leaving late) Jordan was refusing to let me help her with her shoes. Moms who haven't reached the independent phase yet BEWARE! It is great to see her do things herself and be so proud of it! What isn't great is the 30 minutes it takes to put on a pair of shoes. So we finally meet up with Maria, Sam, and Nicole. All is fine until we stop to eat a picnic lunch. Oh Miss Priss wouldn't have it! She wanted to continue walking being pushed in the stroller. She spent 90% of our lunch time in time out and/or being threatened with a spanking and/or pitching a major huge fit. I got a 10 minute break from the madness when we began the treck back to our cars. She and Maria were running ahead of us giggling and prancing about when it happened. Mothers can always see this coming. We cringe as we watch and wait for the inevitable. There she goes! She tripped over the tip of her one-size-too-big-sandals and tumbled to the ground, breaking her sunglasses in the process. With Jordan, one little mishap like this sets the course for the entire day. And so it did. Within 3 minutes of the initial fall and in her determined misery she threw herself out of her stroller and onto the concrete. And so it goes. Eventually I had to strap her into the stroller to save her from herself. We went rounds for the rest of the day and evening. I know that there are people out there who wonder how I get through. Or maybe they don't. Maybe they assume I don't have a firm hand when it comes to discipline. Maybe they think Jordan is just out of control and that is why the tantrums are so oversized. To those people I say "walk a mile!" Strong-willed children are different. While there are days when she saps every single bit of energy out of me, there is an upside to this dramatic flare my child has. The upside is this: her exhuberance. Not only is she less than hesitant to display her dissatisfaction, she is over the top when it comes to joy. When she is excited about something it is written on her face and is sounded off in her laughter and giggles. Tonight while I watched her face light up over bubbles my mom was blowing I realized that she wouldn't be this outwardly excited were she not overly dramatic in general. Hmmm...I think saying "overly dramatic" is putting it lightly. Those of you who have been blessed by being in her prescence during a tantrum can attest to that.