Evil Mom

I reached school to pick up little Miss Haana one day this week. Miss Haana was holding her snack bowl, half way filled with bite sized apple pieces. As soon as she saw me, she quickly stuffed a couple pieces in her mouth, but there too many more to go in the bowl, it was not empty. She hesitantly walked towards me and reluctantly told me she hadn't been able to finish her snack just yet, but she was working on it. (I might have been gently perusing her to ensure that she finish her snack  (fruit) at school every day).

I had a mixed rollercoaster reaction when i saw her:
First,  it was comic relief. It was comical to see her quickly stuff her mouth with multiple fruit pieces and then drag her feet to report to me!

Then, it was pure unadulterated satisfaction. Getting her to eat is no mean task. That my nagging and threats actually do succeed to some degree, called for some serious pat on the back. I was secretly proud of myself- for just that  moment anyway.

Then, of course not far behind, it was guilt. How mean must she think i am, if she behaves like that! Am i just too strict with her sometimes? Do i get carried away with frustration at times?

But then finally, it was doubt. Is she really this meek little mouse like she's making it out to be right now? This is the little thing who, given a choice (out of exasperation) to eat her dinner or go for a timeout; gets down from her chair, begins her angry im-mad-at-you-too-crying; goes without any qualms for timeout; refuses to come back till i concede she is not going to have to eat any more. Compare that to this little thing stuffing apples in her face so i don't see the snack is not finished. Hmm, is she playing me? Or am i really the evil mean mom?

Definitely not asking that question.

Normal Moms

I always suspected this would happen one day in distant future, but never expected it to happen this early.

One day, picking up little Miss Haana from school, we were having our usual arguments (where she tells me what she wants, and then i tell her to do something else), when she suddenly screamed in exasperation, "Mumma! Why can't you be like a normal mom!"

Normal mom! I have to say,  the thought has occurred to me that I'm probably pretty far from normalcy. But how does Haana know that!
I asked her,  "What do you mean,  normal mom! What does that even mean?". This caused more exasperation, "Ughhh, you don't even understand what I'm saying. You never understand what I'm even saying". Why does everything with 5 year olds have to be in superlatives!

Anyway, when i prodded some more (maybe not all that carefully)  i was educated that normal moms are not that strict. And not mean either. I'm thinking they also always understand what their 5 year olds are saying. I'm sure they also always agree with what their little ones are saying. In short - they're imaginary😊

I can live with that!

Confession

I have a confession.

All of us were doing groceries at the neighbourhood store this Saturday afternoon. When done, we had our cart all loaded up with stuff and, were heading out. Little Miss Haana was telling me she wants to go and sit on the garden rocking chairs set outside the store for spring. I thought that was a great idea.

Just as we headed out the store, i saw a little girl heading into the store accompanied by two women. It was little Miss Haana's classmate, one of her best friends. I recognized one of the women was her mother. The other was far older, probably grandmother.

Little Miss Haana was in a hurry to get to the chairs and didn't see her best friend coming over from the other side. And, i didn't say anything. I recognised the girl, i smiled at her, but i didn't tell Haana.

I later felt that was such a mean thing. Actually, although the girl is miss Haana's best friend, multiple times she's said and done mean things to her. She's laughed at little Haana, made fun of her and made her cry. Multiple times I've heard the girl has been mean to my little Haana. I make no bones about it, i don't like her at all. It usually doesn't help telling kids their friends are bad kids. Instead i try to teach her to stand up to bad behavior, especially mean girls.  And to stand up to bullying. I'm not sure how successful that's going either. For some reason, my little girl Haana just likes that girl. I think it has to do with the fact that she's older and more mature, and Haana is drawn to older kids, especially girls.

Anyway, those are my reasons for not telling little Miss Haana that i just saw her best friend. I felt guilty about it later, and chastised myself for being so mean.