In Control

*** Sigh ***

Little Miss so badly wants to be in control it makes for some very interesting moments. So long as nobody crosses her will, and lets her do whatever she pleases, she's fine, but of course life won't cater to that mentality.

The county fair begins today. We're lucky - or not so lucky, depending on how you look at it, to live within walking distance. The grounds are at the end of our little road. It's great because through the years the kids have entered numerous animals and vegetables and learned a lot working in the barns. The drawback is only the amount of traffic that is attracted and the noise level on Saturday night.

The twins are ecstatic!!! They are entering their chickens today. This will open up a whole new world to them. The big girls are kind of getting into it, too. Posters were made, animals caught, toenails clipped, critter baths given... The girls will be taking the twins morning and evening for chore time, show time, and barn duty, etc... so consider this "school" for the twins this week.

Unfortunately, Little Missy has had a real control issue all this week. It comes to light over the silliest things. She was controlling toys and taking them away from brother this morning, and it was no big deal but  she was asked to share and be nice. This angered her. Big sis took her out of the situation and made a small request which Little Missy refused to comply with (because, after all,  she's in charge). She was instantly handed over to me, then she was furious that I was  involved because she knew she'd lose, but that certainly didn't mean she'd give up without a fight. My desire was only to de-escalate the situation... but she was going to show me she was in control.

As I present the choices - obedience and the blessings that go with a willing spirit, or disobedience and the curses that follow wrong choices, she can, and will, usually tell me which is the correct choice to make, but that doesn't mean she will make that choice.

And so it went again today. It's a tough job to be mom sometimes. Things were ratcheting up and I finally had to give her the ultimatum that I really, really did not want to give her. Choose to obey and be done with the battle or continue the current course towards insanity and lose the privilege of  going to the fair to get the critters settled in after lunch. She thought about it. She really did. She very, very nearly made the right choice, but apparently control is more important. She would not concede. I waited silently for her to realize her mistake. She realized alright, but she was determined to get her way and go to the fair, too. It was utterly amazing display....I put into action my very best cool down methods and in a little while she was snuggled into my shoulder heaving with relief that she had not won  - Truly! I prayed with her and held her close and shed a tear or two as I could see her soaking  up the security .. . And then, she started to laugh.