listening

Ladybug is 5. She will be starting kindergarten in the fall. And I have some serious concerns about her ability to listen. How is it possible for her to be standing right next to me and not hear a thing I say. She knows when I stop speaking and yet knows nothing of what was said. How? And how will that be in kindergarten? Well, she is in preschool now and the teacher continually tells me she is the biggest helper in school so maybe she is just like that with me. But I finally lost it with her on Sunday.

I had asked her to clean her room earlier in the day. I assumed (yep mistake #1) that she had done so because she told me she did. See....I listen. So I let her watch a movie. A movie that is only fueling her desire to have a dog -- something I have no desire for. "Please mama!" How many times do I have to say no before she hears no. See the theme? So, for some reason that now escapes me, later I walked into her room (mistake #2) and discovered.... well... I am assuming there was a freak isolated tornado in her room that, because I did not have the weather channel on, I did not hear about it.

I asked her if she cleaned her room. She says... yes. Really? Every piece of dress up clothes is on the floor. The farm animals are strewn across the room. The comforter is no longer on the bed. The monster trucks are randomly placed. The coloring books and markers must have been tossed in the air and allowed to land at will. And a few books are strategically placed through out the room. She walks in behind me. I confronted her. And faced with the mess... she sticks to her story. Again, really???? "But I can't pick up all this stuff. It's too much work."

Oh but I did not lose it at that time.

So we start cleaning up the room (mistake #3) ...read that sentence as "I started cleaning up the room." I am shoveling clothes into the stool. I am putting books back where they belong. I am neatly placing markers into the container. I am putting the comforter back on the bed. She is putting the monster trucks back near the wall. And then I look over at her. Some how she has found her swim cap and placed it on her face. Yes! The nylon, water proof, plastic-like, air-tight cap. It is snug around her face.

Oh but I still did not lose it.

Knowing the concerns of have essentially plastic bag on her face I attempt to keep my cool. I casually ask her to remove it from her face (mistake #4). She walks away from me with it still on her face...singing.

And this is where I lost it!

Take it off! Take it off! TAKE IT OFF!!!! (still debating if this was a mistake)

It freaked her out. She dove in her bed (without the cap). And took a nap.

Mean Mama