Yakety Yack, Don't Talk Back

Arwen is admittedly a 'hard' child. She's very smart and because of that she's stubborn, willful and extremely independent. She challenges boundaries each day and constantly pushes to see just how far she can go before the shit hits the fan.

As her Mother, I know exactly how trying it can be when she's at her worst. But the one thing she does that drives me absolutely ape shit batty is her back talk. Here's a snippet of what it's like:

"Arwen, move and let Vincent kiss Annabel good-bye."

"NO! HE MOVED OVER ON MY SPOT AND I WAS HERE FIRST!"

"Arwen, move I said, let Vincent kiss her good-bye before the bus gets here!" Vincent starts to cry as he just wants to kiss his baby sister, which peaks my annoyance.

"NOOOO," she starts.

"ARWEN! I SAID..."

"NOOO! I WAS HERE FIRST! HE..." she starts in again before a mini meltdown occurs in which she is then forceably moved by her Father so our son can kiss the baby.

This is a common thing. Whenever she gets into trouble and I try to tell her what she's done wrong, she interjects, interrupts or stops me midsentence. When I was a kid I'd have gotten slapped in the mouth (and I did, I remember, I stopped talking back after that) if I spoke back to my Mom like that.

I informed Arwen that starting today there will be no more talking back or speaking over others. She has to begin to learn some control. I realize she is only 6 but at 6 she should have a better handle on her emotions to an extent. I can't let this power struggle continue for her sake. There has to be a defined line so in the future there is no miscommunication when she steps over it.

Girls are so much harder than boys.