The Median Sib

RT and I are babysitting Sunshine and Sweet Stuff this weekend.  I’m very tired right now.  However, that’s not the topic of this post.

The other day I wrote about an email my daughter sent me telling me about a bedtime battle she had with Sweet Stuff.  Sweet Stuff wanted to sleep in the play room, and my daughter was determined to stick to the rules that the girls sleep in their own rooms on school nights. 

Last night Sweet Stuff decided it was time to spill the beans and tell on her mommy.

We (RT, me, Sweet Stuff and Sunshine) had just started home from Kroger, and her little voice came from the back seat, “Grandma Carol, your baby was mean to me.”

“My baby?”  I asked.  I had no babies that I knew of.

“Yes.  Your child - your daughter - my mommy.”

“Your mommy was mean to you?”

“Yes!  She made me very angry.  She hurt my feelings.”

Sweet Stuff went on to “tell on” her mommy - giving me exactly the same story I had received in the email.  Her feelings were hurt because she didn’t get her way.  It was obvious that she wanted me and RT to do something about this grave injustice.  How should I handle this ?

“Sweet Stuff, you know your mommy loves you very much and she just wanted you to get a good night’s sleep.”

“I could sleep good in the play room,” she replied.

“Well, if your mommy made you angry and hurt your feelings, you need to talk to her about it.  She’ll understand and she’ll talk with you about it,” I said.

“Oh!”  Long pause as she thought that over for a few minutes, and then she started telling me about how her friend, Connor, at school had hurt her feelings (Can you tell she’s five years old when “hurt feelings” are the main topic of converstion - for girls anyway?)  Then she stopped and said, “But I will talk to him about that.”

Now if ONLY she can remember that lesson and talk to people when she feels wronged and express her feelings.  Wow!  Here I am at 56 and I’m still working on that skill.