A teenager has invaded my 6 year old!

I thought parenting was getting easier now that our daughter is old enough to listen and understand what we are saying. I think it actually may become more challenging. My little six year old baby who always listened to everything we had to say has decided she has opinion about most everything, and she is going to let us know when it doesn't match our opinion. In fact, I think she might disagree just to disagree at times, especially when it comes to clothes and hair!

This weekend, I can't tell you how many times I asked her to do something and she responded with "no." I realize she is testing limits, etc. but this is really getting challenging :-) It is still kind of shocking to hear her say "no" because we have been so spoiled by having a child who was a good listener and had a healthy respect for her parents and consequences. Now, it is an effort not to battle over everything!

She wants to watch tv all the time. Instead of listening to the first time I say no, she now won't let it go and will keep on asking, begging, and sometimes just outright going and turning on the tv herself. Yesterday, I threatened to ban all tv watching from the house, period (I meant it! Lisa would have died). She stopped at that threat, but I imagine she will still come back to battle the issue again.

Has a teenager invaded Maggie's body?

My daughter is only 6, and I had heard that it will suddenly become more challenging, but sheesh! Overnight, it is like a little teenager invaded her body! She even said she wanted to eat dinner in her room last night. What!! I would expect that from a teenager, but not my little 6 year old.

I realize we can be boring company compared to the excitement offered by her peers, but I didn't realize we were that boring. The other day she told me she didn't want to talk on the way home from school because "adult talk" is boring. I laughed, and agreed. I made an effort to talk at her level of interest, but she said it just wasn't the same. Sigh.

It is such a tricky balance, this parenting thing. There is so much I want to share with my daughter in any given day, but there is never enough time for what I want to do, what she wants to do, and what we have to do. I still haven't had time to teach her what she needs to know for karate this week, but I am holding out hope that she won't be too tired after school today, and that we can fit it in before dinner. Then we need to practice reading, but of course she will ask if she can have a play date or watch tv, first. And I will tell her no, and she will be upset with me. Oh, our predictable life.

Last night we had terrible thunderstorms in the middle of the night. I was comforted that my little baby wanted to sleep in our bed because she was scared. At least she still shows some signs of needing us beyond our roles as chauffeur and cook.

Even in the midst of whatever phase we are going through, at least she tells me several times a day that she loves me. So, though we battle, we both know we still love each other.

Next week I get to spend some quality time with her over Spring Break. I am glad both of us will be focused on enjoying our vacation and not so worried about the day-to-day chores of life. I will try to respect her extreme need for social time with her friends, and hopefully she will give me some of her adorable daughter time without a battle. A mom can hope....