Snow, DSI, & Kissing

For a girl who had never endured temperatures lower than the 50s, Shaling has certainly experienced quite the initiation this week. We had an ice storm, a blizzard, and well below zero wind chills. Our school had 3 snow days. She has enjoyed snowball fights, building a snowman, and hot chocolate. Brock & I had a “snow day” on Wednesday, but Tuesday & Thursday we split the day home with the kids. I worked in the mornings and he worked in the afternoons.

Yesterday afternoon, I was in my recliner (& playing on my laptop) while the kids were playing the Nintendo Wii on the television. Apparently, her character kept dying and she became quite frustrated and eventually quit. She is usually a very persistent little girl, so this is unusual. In fact, I have a sneaky suspicion that she thought somehow her brother Preston was to blame. Anyway, she began playing her DSI (handheld video game).

We have a rule that you cannot have the volume up on your DSI in the living room. You must play it in your bedroom or the basement playroom (or simply mute it). She had her volume up. Preston calmly told her to turn it down. This was a major step for him, as he sometimes has a tendency to get bossy with her in a hyper sort of way. She didn’t respond to him verbally and instead of turning it down, turned it UP. At this point I told her to turn it down. She stubbornly exclaimed, “No!” At that point, I gave her my death glare and told her sternly to turn it down. She sarcastically said, “OK”, but then closed her DSI and threw it on the ground.

I am now the proud owner of a pink DSI.

She’ll get it back when she proves she knows how to take care of things. When Brock got home, I told him about it. He went to her and said, “Mommy says you, DSI”, while pointing at her and then acting out throwing something on the ground. She dropped her head and ruefully said, “ok”. She knows she screwed up.

Honestly, though I have no regrets about how I handled the situation, as she has to learn this lesson, I believe part of the issue is that she’s never had toys that were HERS. They’ve always been community property. She’s not been in a situation that would foster a pride in ownership.

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Whenever we watch a movie that has a kissing scene, whether it is actors or animated characters, Shaling giggles her heart out. She then uses her hands to mimic kissing lips while making smacking sounds with her lips, frequently saying, “Mom, Dad”. Last night, we were watching a movie at the neighbors’ house (Gary & Brenda). When she saw Charlize Theron & Bill Pullman kiss, she let her unique string of giggles, did her patented kissing gestures & sounds, then pointed at Gary & Brenda, saying “you, you”. Gary pointed back at her and said, “You”. She said, “No, no Shaling” and made her kissing sounds & gestures.

Let’s hope she remembers THAT in about 5 or 6 years.