I just typed an entire post and somehow deleted it....here we go again.
This may sound petty to some of you, but when dealing with hurt children, my view gets blurred by the manipulation.
Today, the twins were getting ready for dance. They wear pink tights and black leotards with their hair in a ponytail. Haylee comes out dressed with a huge blue sequenced bow in her hair. I tell her we aren't wearing that to dance and take it out. I think she had about four knots in the bow and two hair bands. (Sensory stuff??) I tell her I will help fix her hair when we get to dance.
Hannah walks in and looks very nice. I tell her she looks nice and she did a good job fixing her hair. It looked really good!!
We all load up to go to dance and swim team. In the car, Haylee asks if I will fix her hair at dance. I tell her yes; even though, I had already told her in the house.
We travel the five to ten minutes to dance and start unloading to go inside. Hannah asks me if I can fix her hair also. As I am getting out of the car, I turn back and her hair is down. I asked her why her hair was down, it had looked so nice. She said that it got messed up and the back was coming down.
Thoughts are swirling through my head as she tells me this. We all walk inside and the older three head to the pool for swim team. I take the twins to the bathroom to fix their hair. I asked Hannah why she took her hair down. The story I get this time is that she had bobby pins in the back and she didn't know if I would like them. What?? Why would I have a problem with bobby pins in the back under her ponytail. I never have in the past. The only thing I can ever remember saying about bobby pins was that they aren't meant to be worn in the front on top of your head, they are meant to not be very noticeable.
I fixed Haylee's hair for dance. I start fixing Hannah's hair. I asked her why she told me a story about why her hair was down when I would much rather her say that she would like me to brush and fix her hair because she likes it. I asked her why she feels she has to manipulate the situation to get her way. ( I realize she can't answer that question, but it is what I said.) She just continued to make up reasons. I told her to stop because she it just lying and going to get her into trouble. She kept trying to tell me different versions of the story. Of course, she says I am not and I didn't take my hair down on purpose. Explain to me how her hair can get messed up traveling 5-10 minutes in the car. She had even wet her hair at home when she was fixing it, so I know it didn't come down on its own. Haylee chimes in and says that Hannah just took it down, it didn't fall. She is the master at keeping a straight face and making eye contact when she is manipulating or lying. It is getting harder and harder to tell the truth from lies. She whines a little and says, "But Momma, I am not lying." It is so hard, because all of our friends believe her and say that she doesn't mean to lie. Obviously, I ignore their opinion.
"Seeing it for what it is"
ReplyDeleteOur new motto. :)
I saw your comment on my blog. You know I completely understand. Hang in there.
It might seem petty -until you add up how many times a day this kind of thing takes place. . . And the energy it saps. Lies piled on lies. The emotional drain on a mother wanting the best for her children but knowing the child is doing everything possible to con you. ... And then it's not petty at all!
ReplyDeleteuh huh. and it's impossible to explain to someone who isn't parenting hurting children.
ReplyDelete