Monday, November 19, 2007

oh, the drama


Maegan is 4. But, man, sometimes she sounds just like a teenager.
In this picture Maegan is very mad because of how I dressed her. Particularly that this "dress" is too small and shouldn't have pants under it. For 30 minutes, before leaving for church, I tried to convince her that she looked darling. (That was when I was being patient about her protest.) She continued to stomp around the house saying "I will not wear this, I will not. It is embarrassing! It's not my choice, I don't choose to wear it!) Then I began my ineffective speech about how I spent good money ($5) on this "dress" and I refuse to waste good money. I went on to explain that she was being ungrateful and her behavior was an affront to the many children who would love to wear this ensemble. Can you believe this message didn't change her mind? She returned with "I just can't do it, I can't wear this...it's stupid! I want a different mommy and daddy who will let me wear my choice." Now, the compromise. You can have your choice...but after church. This isn't because I wanted her to look a certain way at church, but because I didn't want to give in.
Well, in the end I let her take off the embarassing, stupid dress shirt. But she still had to keep the clothes on underneath, which was it's own sort of punishment. Pants are like punishment to Maegan because that is what boys wear.
I've got to stop fighting the stupid fights. Perhaps it was my behavior (the angry, impatient part) that was an affront to God, not hers.