7 Going on 3

I can handle toddlers having tantrums. I can handle preschoolers having tantrums. What I can not tolerate, however, is a child of nearly 7 years getting all Reagan-from-The-Exorcist on me. Unfortunately, that's just what I got last night, and then all over again this morning. I would love to paint a lovely picture for you, in which my kids are angels all the time. But that would be boring, and I think there are plenty of blogs in which mothers show you only the most charming and lovely sides of their children. As parents, we know there's another side to it.

If you've been keeping up with me for a while, then you know that Ava has ALWAYS been prone to a little, shall we say, drama. She's also so attached to me that if it got any worse, I would need a restraining order. Really. 

Anyway, I don't know exactly what set her off last night, but it had to do with the fact that I was playing tennis today and needed Morgan to take her to school. She wanted me. Of course. After that, the night was kind of terrible, and it ended with lots of tears/screaming/yelling from her. And lots of wine for me. 

Then this morning, I got up to run at 5:40. As I was getting dressed, she came in my room crying that she needed me to come lie with her so she could fall back asleep. I suggested she get in my bed with her daddy. No dice. Cue early morning hysterics. Luckily for me, I was forced to be strong because I was meeting a friend to run and we don't do early morning runs by ourselves. Stranger Danger is real, you know. 

Long story short, according to Morgan she finally made it back to her bed, only to get up a short while later, bicker with Davis, and then completely fall apart again. It was ugly. Really ugly. She was supposed to sleep over at a friend's tonight and Morgan repealed those plans. I'm not lying to you when I say that she cried on and off for over TWO HOURS. Nightmare. Terrible way to start the day, and surely the reason I lost my tennis match today. Not that I ever win. Anyway, this was clearly not the way I wanted to kick off my Mother's Day weekend. I don't know what in the world is going on with her, but it's not good. The counselors at the parenting class I went to mentioned to me that age 6 1/2 is one of the worst of all. They said it's like reverting to toddlerhood, but worse. If that's the case, then Ava is proving it to be true. 

I'm hoping an early bedtime tonight will get her back on track. She had really been pretty much a breeze for the last six months or so. I was really enjoying her. But this mess has got to stop. Like, yesterday. 

I guess the silver lining is that when she's acting so badly, Davis sprouts an invisible halo and doesn't misstep even a little. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

PS - The Steve Madden shoes from this post are a no-go. With a 4.5" heel, I can't walk in them. And I kind of look like a woman of the night.