Doodles

Our little roller coaster.

That's what we've always called Emma.  Our highs are really high, our lows are really low and they can change in a second:)  We're coming out of the really hard years with her even though things are still interesting at times!  Emma brings so much joy and laughter into our lives that today I thought I'd share some of what I call in my head, "Emmaisms":)  Plus I'm terrible at writing things down, so this way I can remember some of these things forever!

I've developed a system with her where I sit down, have a serious talk with her about whatever we need to be working on and we find a word trigger to help her remember.  For a long time it was "obedient AND joyful".  She had this habit of putting a smile on her face but not actually doing what she was told, or doing what she was told but with a miserable attitude.  So, I would say "obedient AND joyful" with various results:)  There were a lot of sarcastic smiles, but I think she got the point!  The next word was "self-control".  Responses included, "but mom, you just don't understand how mad she made me!" and my favourite was collapsing on her bed in teenage-movie-fashion and saying, "this is just too hard!":)  I told her, "I know its hard.  I still struggle everyday.  That's why you have to start practicing at six years old":)

Yesterday we were doing school while one of the other kids was doing a piano lesson and she leaned in close and said, "you really stink".  She has two issues.  I'm pretty sure that she has sensory issues, but that's another blog post.  She's also completely tactless:)  We've been talking about this a little but haven't had one of our serious talks about it.  A serious talk ensued right there in the teacher's basement.  Personally, I'm pretty sure I didn't stink, just to clarify:)  So tonight at the dinner table, she lifts up my arm, smells, and declares, "You don't stink.  Even though you always did before."  Michael and I tried really hard not to laugh but lost it when she proudly declared to Arianna, "I will change!!"

Baby steps......