Miss Independence
Avery has reached that age. That age! The age where, via her actions, she is telling me she is quite certain she can take care of herself, thank you very much. She seems to think she does not need me anymore and whenever I try to pick her up or say, protect her from falling down a flight of stairs, she pushes away from me and flops around like a rag doll so that I can't hold on to her. And sometimes,,, just sometimes, I think, go ahead, try to walk down those stairs by yourself,,, I dare you! It's not that I want her to fall, it's just that I would like her to remember that I am her mother, and I'm there to protect her, and if she doesn't accept my guidance she may get hurt because well, she's only been walking for three months and walking down a flight of stairs is a bit more difficult than walking on flat land (something she's still mastering,,, but she does have the drunk baby walk down perfectly!)
She's showing much more of her independence when we go out to public places. Like she knows I can't be too out of control with my parenting if other people are around and watching us. She is definitely trying to exert her will and knows that if other people are watching then she is more likely to be able to get away with a whole lot more than at home,,, where I can put her in her crib and say, "think about it for a while and when you're ready to act like a human being, rather than a crazed animal, I'll let you come out and play." (Yes, I've really said that, I know, I know.)
Today we were at her Little Gym class and where she used to sit in my lap during the opening song and behave herself during the warm-up and group activity, she now thinks that the group activities don't apply to her and she would rather just go and swing on the low bar or walk on the balance beam. To get her to come and do a group activity, I literally have to scoop her up and carry her, while she is screaming and whining, to the mat and then make her realize all the other kids are doing the warm-up so she should too. Usually, this works and today she finally did participate but then I was thinking about the technique I had used to get her to participate. I pretty much used the "everyone else does it, so you should as well." Not good. Now when she gets to be a teenager and she does something I disapprove of it's going to be hard to use the, "just because everyone else jumps off a cliff doesn't mean you should as well" line on her. I need to switch techniques!
Even though her independence can be extremely frustrating at times I also ADORE the fact she is really coming into her own. I love seeing her being completely open to the learning process we all go through, and making friends with the children around her. She's getting more and more brave every day, taking risks and challenging herself. Yes, she's becoming more independent, but at least I know she'll still come to the woman she refers to as mama when she becomes a little too brave and scrapes her knees and needs someone to bandage them up and kiss them better. I'm all too honored to have that job.
