I wish I could go back to when each of my girls was wee. Especially Rhayn and really take the time to enjoy them all over. Because right now I do not like the older two very much. Rhayn will be 11 on Tuesday. Eleven, two hands plus one, old enough to attend Hogwarts. And some days she acts like she is 5 and other days she acts 13. Other days she is a joy and a huge help.

Gwen is a mess most of the time. This morning she screamed about Natty being in her room for 20 minutes, just repeating "I don't want Natalie in my room!" while sobbing. She then cried "My head hurts!" for an additional 5 minutes. She just became hysterical, which happens far too often. I don't know how to deal with her when she freaks out like that. I feel the way that her dad deals with it is not always helpful, I personally think he makes it worse. He teases her and eventually yells at her because she is totally unreasonable. I don't tease her when she gets worked up like that, because it does nothing but make it worse. And I don't see how that helps her deal with her issues. But he says she is just like him, and maybe what he is doing is the way to deal with her? I don't know.

It would be nice if each child came with a manual. In the manual it would say helpful things like:

"This child is spirited. They will need you to have more patience than you think you have.
This child is going to push all of your buttons regularly.
This child needs time alone to calm down or in order to calm down this child needs to be in a dark room or in a bath or (insert a way to calm down here).
This child is going to do something great. S/he may seem lazy but s/he is always thinking of new ways to solve problems."

How great would that be? Then you would know that these annoying childhood traits are leading to something amazing in adulthood. And maybe you, as the parent, would be able to guide that child to a better path, teach them an easier way to calm down. And most of all, not feel helpless when they are in the middle of a temper tantrum or freak out about their room being messy.