Thursday, May 10, 2012

Who Rules the House?

Raphaela, apparently.

My parenting counsellor had Raphaela come with me today, and she observed us playing for almost one hour.  Afterwards, she gently suggested that Raphaela rules the house, and that I have to take back my full authority and power of conviction in order to minimize - if not eliminate altogether - Raphaela's aggravating selective hearing and manifestation of the Terrible Twos.

The counsellor assured me that it is clear that I love my daughter and that I am a good mother (whew), but that I enforce my role as the mother inconsistently, and that I give up on the "small battles" too quickly.

I don't disagree with her assessment, I sometimes feel as if Raphaela is a Little Dictator, though it is difficult to be told by an objective observer that you are all too human, and that I am making classic and obvious parenting mistakes.

5 comments:

Rachel Selby said...

Why do you have a Parenting Counsellor? doesn't it annoy you to have someone tell you what to do with your own daughter?

Doc said...

I wanted to have an objective voice when I felt overwhelmed. Thus far, her assistance has been a mixed blessing.

Commenter Abbi said...

Meh, I'm inconsistent with my 3 year old, but it keeps him quiet, so it's a win win for both of us. :) I'm sure the parenting counselor would be horrified. There's not a whole lot you can do to minimize the terrible two's. Just have to keep your head down and plow through.

Amy Charles said...

I agree with Abbi. Just wait till you reach the shores of adolescence. It's a treat. Just remember that for now? You can pick her up and carry her around. It's a huge plus. I'm going to have to rely on moral suasion to make sure my daughter doesn't start doing that to me in a couple of years. Maybe I should work more on that fear/respect thing. (Where's my copy of The Prince, anyway?)

I'm sure she'll be fine. She won't remember any of this anyway.

Ariela said...

sounds like the Parenting Counsellor is an idiot. Sorry - making a parent feel guilty is the worst thing to do.