About Paige

This is a post about the multi-faceted character of Paige. She is so joyful and optimistic, while also being challenging. Sometimes she is so difficult to figure out. For example, she will run away from a gnat outside as if it had fangs and (gasp) a stinger. But then, she will "collect" worms after a rain and have them all "nuzzled" in the palm of her hand. She LOVES most to play a service person (like a hotel manager, a salon worker, or a waitress), but when Will was busy with his own game today and I asked Paige what she wanted to play she opted for "monster trucks in the junkyard." That's right. She and I played monster trucks for a half hour. I'm beginning to see why men complain that women are hard to figure out. We kind of are.

Paige just about never plays with baby dolls. Today she started to. And everyone was to take an equal interest in this baby doll that once sat at the bottom of our stuffed animal basket. She logically explains to Will why we can't start the day with a "snack" one minute, but then cries uncontrollably when Will doesn't include her in his play the next minute. I feel as if she is straddling the little kid vs. older kid fence right now which is why we are seeing so much contradictory behavior.

Then came today after school. She did not get a star for behavior today at school which is definitely out of character. Just as she was explaining this to me her teacher called. Yes, I was beaming with pride by this point. I believe the teacher just wanted to explain why she felt it was necessary to "move her penny," and I agreed. Of course, it had to do with giggly friends and herself not being able to pull it together, but she still had an after school play date cancelled and no TV with the explanation that she made a choice to misbehave and there are ramifications to that.

She showed great remorse, though, and will hopefully learn with every experience like this (though hopefully there are few). The good news is that she is the most remorseful when she realizes that she has disappointed us. I feel that is a good motivator to strive for good behavior.