The ways in which little girls play amongst themselves really baffles me. They compete, they cut each other down, and one up each other. Everything is a game of who has the better this or that, who is wearing the coolest ___, or who is the best at___. Just listening to it takes my self-esteem down a few notches and gives the creeps. Where do they learn this? What happened to the nice, playing together and being positive, uplifting friends stage? I liked that one.
This stage, not so much. As a parent who may or may not have an overprotective tendency, it is really difficult to listen to two girls sort through these issues on their own without intervening with a grouchy "CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!" There is value in letting children figure out how to navigate through other peoples bullshit, but damn. There is that fine line. The line in which on one side I am explaining why the way those words sounded may have hurt the other persons feelings and suggesting we look for a better way to say it, and then there is the other side where I am dancing up and down madly, pulling my hair out (or imagine myself doing so in my head) as I say wildly "Will you two just knock it off? I am tired of listening to you to treat each other this way!" Depending on delivery, that last part might not be so bad but it seems that every time I say that, the response I get is "But we are just playing!"
When did playing become so mean? Or has it really always been this way and I have just done a really excellent job of blocking all of my own childhood experiences from memory? Of course, this also may be where the whole 'more friends that are boys than girls' thing comes in.
On the up side, I made some awesome gluten free cupcakes tonight.
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