It is so interesting (and sometimes annoying) to witness the open jealousy of children. Zoe is not afraid to admit when she is jealous -- which is something I encourage in her because I think it is better for her to talk about it than to go around biting or something similarly violent or destructive. Most frequent bouts of jealousy occur when I am holding someone else's baby. There fore there was nothing surprising about yesterday's attack of the green-eyed monster except that it came up so late in the day. We went to see my niece's dance recital and Zoe sat quite well through the hour plus show. She only got fidgety in the last 15 minutes, but by that point I think everyone was feeling that way. She seemed genuinely excited to see her cousin perform as well as watch all the other performances. I was waiting for the jealousy to strike and was surprised when it didn't come.
After the performance we all went to lunch and that is when the attack came on suddenly. I was not expecting to look over at her and see she was crying -- apparently because she wasn't sitting next to me. At that point there was no way to move seats so she could be next to me -- rather than just across from me. My husband and my brother did their best to try and draw her out of it, but she would not budge from her pout. It wasn't until she got taken to sit in the car with my husband that she finally came out of it.
It was a divided moment for me. On one hand I felt for her, but on the other hand I was incredibly frustrated by her. I think it is important that she learn that it is not all about her all of the time, but I know that is a hard lesson.
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