M has a really strong personality. I've said it before, and it's so true! She knows exactly what she wants and how she want it done.
Well, today after church I went and picked Mn up from Nursery (She is FINALLY attending by her self!!!!). The nursery leader came up to me and said,
"[M] really has a strong personality."
"Yes, I know."
She then said, "No really, when she comes in here, after she calms down and accepts that she is here to stay, she takes charge."
I was a little surprised by that. "Really?"
"Oh yeah, she's a definite leader. If another child has a toy she wants, she just goes and takes it. She knows exactly what she wants and she doesn't take any guff from the other kids."
I really wasn't sure how to respond to that. Taking other toys from kids is not so good...we're working on that. She is also very nurturing. If another child is upset/crying, it effects her. She's not a "if you cry I cry" child, but she becomes concerned and wants to help. She is frequently hugging and patting L when she's upset and saying "Don't cry". She really has an iron will though. A lot of times I actually wonder if she's channeling Lorie Jo's spirit (Mr. N's sister). I've heard Mr. Nl and his siblings refer to her as the "third adult" in their family when they were growing up. M seems really set on that path. We have to be so consistent with her, and sometimes it's exhausting. A lot of what she does/is doing is developmentally what she should be doing for her age, but she seems to have an undercurrent of leadership/stubbornness. It will be interesting to see how our little girl grows up. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful daughters. Sometimes in the chaos of life it's easy to forget that having a stubborn, independent, energy filled toddler that gets into everything imaginable (and unimaginable) is a blessing because she's perfectly healthy and doing exactly what she should be doing. Sometimes I think I count my trials more readily than my blessings. When I look at my challenges with the girls in terms of "blessings" versus "challenges" it really is an eye-opening experience.
6 comments:
Dad always refers to the first born of any family as the "third adult". The oldest child always seems to take charge and thinks that they should be involved in all decisions. Kayla most certainly thinks she is the third adult in our family. Ha ha!
Lorie Jo always did have a strong spirit and liked to be in charge, but she ALWAYS took care of us. Nothing better than a big sister!
That's good to know that a lot of different families have "third adults" too. Madelyn does love to take care of her sister. i guess a lot of this is just normal sibling stuff. Thanks Tara.
I like what you say about counting the blessings and that all of that interest in getting into stuff is their job! I was reading some of the nursery manual yesterday, (it has a lot of good tips... I was just reading it online at lds.org) and it mentions how it is common for kids not to share at this age and to not force them to share if they don't want to. It's all about distraction :)
Anyways, I love the pictures of Mady... she is such a cutie. So fun to watch them grow up. Can you believe they are 2 soon!
That movie is "sleeping beauty". My favorite disney :) So, is her dress pink or blue in the end of the movie? I say pink. My sister says blue.
Hmmmm....I don't know whether to take that as a complement or something else... but don't worry, if she's like me, I think I turned out pretty darn good! (wink, wink)! She may be hard now as a toddler, but she could be an easy teenager. I was one of my parents easiest teens! I had been taught right and I knew what was right and no friends or peer pressure was going to make me change and my parents knew this! So being stubborn can be good sometimes!
better to have a strong personality!
Post a Comment