The Annoying Bits of Six (Especially to Thirteen)

Lizzy has a few very bad habits.

I'm not talking about the fact that she watches too much TV (though she does), or her tendency to holler for "just one more" of whatever it is, or that she jumps more than she walks. Or even that there's a running monologue about everything she does. These are normal and while regrettable, not so big.

But there are two of her habits that drive me up the wall.

The first is that she has a hair-trigger temper. This means that she goes from zero to screaming fit in no time flat. Not tantrums as such, not anymore. But the la la la I love life oh my god she made me move Mo-om Leanna pushed me off the bed bit. Now, I know full well that Leanna would not push her off the bed. But Leanna's got a temper too, and while she wouldn't deliberately hurt Lizzy, she goes into defensive mode almost immediately (I did not! She's lying!). What really happened was that Lizzy was crawling on Leanna, Leanna got tired of it and pushed her off onto the bed, and Lizzy then got all drama-queen and flopped gracelessly to the floor to better illustrate her case. By this point, neither of them are listening as the adults try to sort things out, because Lizzy now truly believes that Leanna pushed her with malice aforethought, and Leanna thinks that we're not listening to her and that we will automatically believe Lizzy because she's little and perfect. Lizzy is little. She is not perfect. The adults know this, but Leanna is in full-on defensive teen mode by this point.

The second - and this is a big one - is Lizzy's apparent inability to grok the concept of Funny Once. She just. Keeps. Going. When she is asked to stop, she doesn't stop. This is where she is like the Energizer Bunny (just like her favorite mode of transportation is like Tigger.) This is also very common for six years old, but for Lizzy is a way of life. It makes everyone - even Grandma - bugnuts, but as is usual, it makes Leanna extra super bugnuts (as I write, Leanna is asking me what 'bugnuts' means, and objecting because bugs don't have nuts. Thirteen - especially nature-loving-animal-and-bug-obsessed thirteen - has its moments too.) Anyway, Lizzy's habit of doing whatever-annoying-behavior just once more (and again, and again, and...) pushes everyone's buttons.

Don't get me wrong, Lizzy is a sweet little girl. Helpful and generous in a six-year-old way, smart as a whip, and more likely to persevere when frustrated than either of her sisters. But she's not perfect; she has her faults.

Now if we can just convince Leanna (and Abby) that we recognize this, we'll be in great shape.