“I Want My Way!”

Inspired by my friend's blog entry about her little girl who has started to scream & yell in public, I decided that Joey's blog fans should know the truth too.

Some of you may have witnessed it yourself already. It is true that Joey is not a cute angel all the time. When she wants something and she doesn't get it, she sits down on the ground immediately & does her whinning, screaming & yelling. (irks!!)

And like all mummies, we all know very well that we should not condone their behaviour, and the more we respond to their misbehavior, the worse they will become. They will realise that they can get what they want by screaming & yelling.

But, most of the time, we do not have a choice, really, cos they do it mostly in shopping centres, crowded places & dirty floors. We have no choice but to pull them quickly away or pacify them by giving them what they want, just to stop them from misbehaving. Sigh

Every morning when I bring Joey to work in the MRT, I can only hope & pray for the best, that she would not scream or struggle to get out of her stroller. She has become very good at getting out of her stroller in one swift movement now, even when she is buckled up. So you can imagine how amazed the strangers in the MRT were when they saw she could stand up in her stroller and threaten to jump out anytime, all in a span of 3 seconds. And then you see a frantic mummy trying to pacify her, contemplating whether to push her back into the stroller or to carry her, while juggling a bag & a stroller. Aiyo!

At home, if she does it, I will whip out the cane or just ignore her. So, she also knows her screaming & yelling don't work at home. Ironically, she behaves her best at home. I wish she would do the same in public!

And yeh, apart from the embarrassment that our kids are creating lots of noise in public, we also bear the burden of being viewed as bad & lousy parents who cannot keep our kids under control. Sigh, it's hard!

I hope Joey grows up faster and get past this phase soonest possible!!!!