Gratifying AND hilarious:

[sarahmichelef]

The scene: our living room.  G (who is 5) and her mom K are about to leave after a couple hours' playdate that involved dressup (master_mr , please let your lovely wife know that the mermaid costume from almost 2 years ago still fits TRex, more or less), playing with the dollhouse, and lots of running around in the sprinkler outside.

K: OK, it's time to go home now.
G: I don't like you!  I'm going to push you away from me forEVER!*
K: If you're going to freak out, we're not going to be able to have another playdate.
G: I don't care!  I don't like you!  I'm going to run away from you!
K: Can you wait to freak out until we're in the car please?

Gratifying both because G clearly had a good time and because my kid is not the only one who freaks out at the drop of a hat.  Hilarious because G's objections were registered using EXACTLY THE SAME TONE AND INFLECTION that TRex uses when she informs us "I'm going to throw you in the trash can!" and similar things.

Comments

[alphasarah.livejournal.com]

We're making progress on that front, too. If she's un-tired enough to not lose it completely, she will more and more often say, "It made me sad because [reason]." Which is obviously very preferable. I'm back to using some of the "Happiest Toddler" techniques which never worked for us when she was younger, but she does seem to respond well to "I understand; you're feeling angry because..." (this weekend it would have been "I told you you had to put on your shoes to go in the [splinter-riddled] climber."