Riley's new thing is coloring on herself. This is not the first time she's done this. She got a set of markers with her easel for Christmas and I remember taking those away from her and hiding them somewhere. I guess she found them and has now hid them from me. I honestly don't know where they are and didn't even think that she had all of them. It started with the red marker late one night. Tim ran upstairs because Riley was screaming and he walked in to see Riley's arms covered in red, crying, "It hurts Daddy, so bad." Tim thought it was blood and when he brought her downstairs to show me, I thought it was blood too. Plus she was saying that it hurt. Well, it was definitely marker and what hurt was that she had been upstairs trying to rub it all off and she rubbed her skin a little too hard.
I bet her markers are all hidden in the same place she kept her pacifiers. I'm going to have to go on a marker search today I'm hoping to find the mother load.
I've been a little upset with Riley lately. She is the sweetest thing until her sister wakes up, and then, she's mean. She's very mean to Madison and I hate it. She yells at her for no reason whatsoever and tells me that she doesn't like her sister. So fun. Really. So fun. I'm really struggling with the sister squabble thing and I really don't know what to do about it. I've tried everything with Riley, talking softly to her, screaming at her, putting her in her room, I'm tired of it and I know what you are going to say, get used to it. I'd be okay with it if it was every once and a while, or I was breaking up a few fights a day, not every five minutes of everyday. It can start to wear on you.
Riley's preschool teachers only have good reports, except for the one day that she kicked a little boy because it was her turn to go down the slide, you can imagine how happy I was to hear that news. I think I was distraught for a week. I meant to blog it but never got around to it. Now she knows we don't kick, hit, or bite the other kids at preschool, we give hugs. There has not been another incident.
I know what you all must be thinking. Oh my gosh, she is mean to her sister and she beats up the kids at school. What a menace, Kristi needs Super Nanny.
Well, I don't need Super Nanny. I'm not telling you all about the good times when she wants to help her sister and hold her hand and give her hugs. Or when she gives me millions of hugs and kisses in the morning. Or whenever she sees anyone outside she says hi to them. She is a sweet, sweet girl. And she is three and has a hard time controlling her emotions. As we speak, she just gave Madi a kiss on the back and came over to hug me. It's just when she is mean for no reason that is hard to handle.
I was not intending for this post to go in this direction. I was just planning on posting the green monster and all of that fun stuff. I guess I just needed to get it out. I've talked to my sister and mom about it a bit and that has helped but I have yet to find a solution. Riley is a tough cookie. It seems like she will only listen to me once I raise my voice. I hate that, I hate raising my voice and getting so upset with her that I feel like I am acting more like a child then she is. You know, this raising babies thing? I thought I had it all figured out. What I didn't add into the equation is personality. Who knew that these kids would have one of those bad boys? And determination, and stubbornness, and, and, and...
It's a good thing I have this blog to vent on. It's good for my marriage. Tim doesn't have to hear it all. There are many things that I like about the blog, but at the same time, I hate the blog. I hate sometimes what people can turn blogging into. I almost went private the other day because I felt like I should. I've had some weird hits on my blog and it's a scary world out there. Plus, there are just some things about blogging that I could go without.
That's a completely different subject so I'll stick to the one at hand. Riley will be starting 3 days of preschool starting in the fall. I've registered her for summer, we'll be sticking with the 2 days, but come August (I think it's August), she'll be doing 3 half days. She is definitely ready. She has been asking me every Monday for a few weeks now if it was a preschool day. When I tell her no, she gets pretty upset, and says, "What about tomorrow? Tomorrow a preschool day?" That four day break is rough. I'm not looking forward to paying $300+ for tuition, but, it's for the best. I think she'll be happier. Her teacher was very excited to hear that Riley would be going 3 days instead of 2. She told me she's doing really well and is such a sweetheart. Honestly I think they are just excited because Riley brings a lot of cupcakes to class with her, with an occasional box of petit fours. I'm just sayin...
So in conclusion of this all over post, I do think that day by day, Riley is getting better with the sister thing, but I wish I could figure out what to do to speed up the process. Preschool is a good break for the both of them and I think the 3 days might help. We will see. Thanks for listening, and if anyone has had, or is having the same kind of problem with siblings, I'd love to hear what has, or what is working for you.
I'll leave you with...
