Failday

[captain_slinky]

Molly didn't eat any of her breakfast this morning, so I blame myself for the terrible day she's had today :(

As far as I've been able to piece together, a classmate told Molly that her best friend (Ben) was DEAD (Ben has been out sick for two days but is not dead I'm pretty sure), so that had her in an upset/frustrated/sad/angry mood already. She's frustrated with school, frustrated with trying to learn, frustrated with teachers trying to correct her. And then in the Library they told her that she couldn't check out any more books! She cried all the way home from Kindergarten today :(

I have fed her, I have let her watch entirely too many cartoons, I have let her give the dog some doggie treats... I'm doing whatever i can to make today better for her but I have all sorts of fear.

I fear that I did it all wrong. I fear that THIS will be the day she looks back on as the beginning of her HATRED for school and learning. I'm petrified. I don't want to move in one direction or the other - do I make the day as good as can be for her which sets the precedent that if she hates school she gets extra attention? Do I scold her and tell her she has to do better, making the association between learning and negative feelings? Do I just ignore it and let her think this type of stuff just happens all the time???

I regret my over-compensation already, wishing I hadn't "rewarded" the behavior :(

Comments

[jillchristina.livejournal.com]

I think this day is a great opportunity for you to teach Molly that some days just suck but that tomorrow is a chance to start over again. Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes we have bad days (maybe give her a not-too-horrible example of a bad day you've had). Tomorrow is a fresh start. When you put her to bed tonight you can remind her that today is over, say good-bye to it, and tomorrow will be another chance to have different experiences.

No parent wants their kid to have a bad day. I think it's ok to try to mitigate the crappy-ness of the day and help our kids back up and dust them off to try again tomorrow.