Daddy’s girl

My daughter is such a funny little soul.  She never ceases to amaze me with how funny and clever she is.  She has an incredible knack of reading my mind and seems to know when I need a hug and an “I love you, mummy.” She insists on being part of whatever is going on in the house and stands her ground in the face of male opposition from her brothers.

School has taken its toll on her though.  After a few unsettled weeks where she constantly said that she didn’t like school and was really grumpy at the end of the day, she has found her feet and seems to be really happy and settled; coming home with tales of new friends and fun times. She suddenly seems to have grown up.

There has been the unwelcome appearance of a serious temper.  My god that girl can strop.  We have had a few that seriously rock the Richter scale recently and even though I have been through the terrible twos, threes and what ever ages before, it is still extremely taxing.

She always has been a Daddy’s girl.  I love that she is.  All of the children have gone through phases when they want their Dad more than me and that is perfectly natural and exactly how it should be.

Daddy has been off work for a week and I have had the chance to see how she is around daddy.  She has loved having him around more and is insistent that he does the school runs and she is reluctant to let him go.

Again, that is perfectly natural and I’m glad that she is making the most of him before he returns to work.

What has been really interesting has been watching how different her behaviour is around him.  Daddy is a little bit, how shall I put it, well more flexible than me.  Soft isn’t the right word but she has mastered the art of wrapping him around her little finger.  He does say no sometimes and he does get cross with her but she always manages to negotiate her own way.  I think he finds it easier to say yes than to deal with the full force of her tantrums.

She is also much more demanding of his time and attention.  If he is here, she wants him next to her to play, chat or cuddle.  It is lovely but he finds it hard to do things that he needs to do because he doesn’t want to upset her.  I can’t remember if it was the same with our sons.  I don’t think it was.  A is his little girl I suppose and she is the youngest too.

It is funny how children can be different with their parents.  A is amazing with me, most of the time.  She happily accepts that I sometimes have other things to do and will help if she can or do something on her own.  She is less whiney and demanding with me as I ignore her and refuse to give her attention for behaviour I don’t like.

Maybe the combination of our way of dealing with her works well as most of the time she is the loveliest little girl.  I knew that starting school would impact on her and tiredness is playing a huge part in the ever-increasing tantrums.  Hopefully, it is just  phase.  Maybe it is hormones? Hopefully, she is getting the ‘stroppy phase’ out of the way and the teenage years will be a breeze (who am I kidding?)

She is still amazing and the strops are only a small part of our lives at the moment, even though they can feel bigger at the time.  I may have to have a quiet word with daddy though …