You’ve probably noticed that I’ve drastically cut back on my posting here at Play 2 Learn with Sarah lately.
The reasons are two fold:
1. I’m working on a new project to help woman in the Direct Sales business grow their businesses through online efforts, such as blogging and social media, called Develop Your Influence.
2. Maddi has been more than two handfuls lately!
She is eating well (thanks to baby food pouches) and sleeping well (kind of), but when she’s awake…WATCH OUT!
She’s into everything (her favorite is standing on chairs right now) and she’s got some seriously aggressive toddler behavior.
The biggest thing we’ve been dealing with lately is scratching (which, if you remember, she was doing in China too).
But now it’s escalated to anytime you tell her she can’t do something, anytime she can’t have something, anytime she wants what someone else has and anytime you try to change her diaper….so if you read between the lines…it’s pretty much all the time.
On Friday, she scratched both boys in the face and this morning she got Evan again and now he has a sore on his face. (And, yes, I have cut and filed her nails.)
Each time she scratches I tell her NO and put her in time-out. I try to be consistent and calm (although that 2nd one is REALLY hard.)
She totally understands time-out because she doesn’t get up…for the most part….until I tell her she can (which is when she stops screaming…any where from 30 seconds to 1 year). Pretty sure she met that spot LONG before she came to TX!
She also totally understands what she’s doing. She will look at me and do it purposefully sometimes.
And…although I’ve been working with her…it’s still pretty constant. It definitely gets worse when she’s tired or hungry, but it’s all the time.
I understand that this is probably from living in an orphanage and having to protect the toy you want from lots of other kids, but IT’S NOT OK!
It doesn’t help to know why right now…I just need it to stop…it’s mean and harmful and it can’t happen.
I think Thursday may have been the worst day we’ve had so far. By the time Dave got home from work, I was in tears and flinging the f-word (in my head and to him only) all over the place. The boys were yelling about how they hate her…it was just bad all around. Luckily I had a massage scheduled that night and I left!
My point in writing this all out is not to get sympathy or even help…it’s just to show that adoption isn’t an easy road on either side. She is struggling. We are struggling. But I think that we probably have had a much easier transition/attachment period than lots of other families…it’s difficult all around.
My friends keep telling me that this too shall pass, but right now it sucks!
PS – Waiting for the doctors to tell us when they want to schedule her surgery…so it’s not going to get any better any time soon!
