Katie was having a great time at preschool this morning. She was playing and laughing. She was having actual give-and-take conversations with a 3 year old. Good stuff. Then she went into a room where some boys were playing with plastic dinosaurs.
She didn't like the dinosaurs. Then, one of the little plastic dinosaurs fell over and touched her leg. She started to cry. And then, the boys decided to capitalize on the reaction (as 2 year olds love to do) and made growling noises further exasperating the problem.
She ran to me crying. It didn't stop there. She broke down with four separate fits at circle time. Once because of a song she didn't like (someone cries in it), then she didn't get to sit on a pink colored mat, then she didn't get to sit on a pink colored mat again, and then the last time because she missed the circle time story because she was out in the hall crying about pink mats.
Outside time at preschool was spent alternating between extreme happiness and crying.
Sigh.
There are times when I just have no idea what to do about these things. None of it is logical to me. It's really hard to take her feelings seriously when she is crying over a plastic dinosaur.
That sounds horrible. It sounds like I don't care. But, I do. Very much so. I want her to be strong and independent. It's just that I have no idea how to help her conquer these fears or these 'pink mat issues' without making them worse.
I know that if I went in and got a plastic dinosaur to show her that it was just a toy, she would cry even more. I know that if I grabbed that pink mat for her before any of the other kids got it it would enable her.
So, the only thing I can do is talk to her about it. It's just so....lame and it feels so pointless sometimes.
For example, I say, "Katie, the dinosaurs are not real. They are just toys. If someone puts a dinosaur in your face and growls, you can say, 'That's not real.'"
Katie answers, "But, I don't wanna say 'dat!"
Then I come back with, "Okay. If you don't wanna say that then you can say, 'I don't like that. Please don't growl at me.'"
Here's hoping all the talking sinks in. I don't think it does. She seems too focused on crying to pay attention to anything that I am saying.
For the rest of today, I just gotta focus on being patient and relaxed. It's hard (especially for me) but, I'll manage.
