About a year or so ago, Lillian began to hit.
She did it out of frustration or if she was super excited about something. Too many emotions resulted in striking someone, usually her sister. I tried to correct this behavior by teaching her empathy. I pointed out that hitting hurts and makes Violet cry, and we don’t want to hurt other people and make them sad.
This unfortunately backfired.
This is how her game I call, ‘Mommy Cry’ started. I would be holding her on my lap and talking with her when out of nowhere, she would haul off and belt me one across the face.
If you are thinking that a 2 year old can’t possibly hit that hard, you have to understand that she puts her whole 25+ pound body into it and, if you are a good parent, you resist the urge to fling your child across the room.
Before I can do anything, she smiles and says, “Mommy, cry, Cry Mommy, cry!” and she’s so damn gleeful about it, that it makes that not throwing her thing even harder.
Now she doesn’t do that much these days so I was hoping we were making some progress. Then yesterday, she woke up while I was taking Violet to school.
Mark sleeps heavier than I do. Maybe she had been trying to get someone’s attention for a while. Maybe that’s why she finally got out of her bed, climbed up his chest and cracked him across the cheek, leaning in and asking calmly, “Where’s Mommy?“
This sort of thing is why daycare just would not be an option.
