Spirited Child

I stopped at B&N to pick up one book but after reading another one called "Raising Your Spirited Child", I got this book instead. First of all, it seemed really positive and then I read a line in the first chapter which was titled "Who Is the Spirited Child?". The line was:

"You might have known since pregnancy that this child was different from other kids, normal but different....Or it might have been until birth, when the nurses in the nursery shook their heads in dismay and wished you luck."

That sentence stuck in my head because that was indeed when I knew we were going to have our hands full. The only baby I heard wailing, pissed off at the top of her lungs happened to be my kid and I thought, "Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into." Of course, the sick side of me was a little bit proud that my daughter was announcing herself so very loudly right after she came into the world.

I'm on page 47 of the book so far and I have to say that it's a great book, not only to help teach your child but to help deal with the feelings you have as a parent raising a spirited child. The isolation that you seem to be the only one with a constantly challenging kid, that something must be wrong with you and that you're a failure as a mother because you can't seem to handle one kid successfully, etc. But it goes on to show how to truly appreciate these traits in your kid because they really are going to pay dividends as adults - you just need to get them there. I know all this mentally. I feel as though I'm raising a CEO, unfortuntatly right now, I'M THE CEO and that's where the problems begin. But I think this book is on target with rephrasing and rethinking these frustrating tendencies and traits as positives and labeling them as such not only to help change the parents' mindsets but also to build up the kids so they like who they are.

Yes, I have to admit that I. can be annoying at times but after reading just 47 pages of this book,
I can relabel that as "persistent, determined, and opinionated". That's not to say that I'm going to stop teaching her how to be all those things without being annoying because that is my job as her momma. But by relabeling it, my attitude changes from negative to positive and she will most likely be a lot more receptive to my comments.

She's such a great little person and I want her to feel like she is too. It's going to take some biting of my tongue, patience, and thinking when I'm frustrated and overwhelmed but I'm determined to do it. One day and one moment at a time...