I saw her look. I heard her tone. The doctor who treated my 2-year-old daughter in urgent care was not happy with how my little girl was behaving. She handed me the prescription and turned to my daughter, “We say excuse me!” I was already uncomfortable, and she proceeded to ask me where my daughter learned to exclaim “woohoo!” instead of the preferred “excuse me.” I’m guilty. So guilty.
My daughter is strong-willed. She’s spirited, as some say. I think she said “I can do it” before she could speak. She’s always doing something, as if she has an overbooked daily agenda she must stick to. Non-stop action! And she ignores me 99 percent of the time, so I’ve resorted to gaining her attention with some tactics that have had some unfortunate consequences—for example, this situation. I stuff the prescription in my bag and shrug, “Oh I’m not sure!” and bolt. The feeling I’m left with is failure, dislike, hurt. That doctor decided who my daughter is by just one moment. My daughter is more than a moment.
I try not to think of my daughter as “strong-willed” but instead as “going places”—partially because she is literally always going someplace—and often without me—but also because this is a great personality trait. But no matter how your phrase it, anyone who’s experienced this sort of child knows the struggle. There are the doctors in urgent care. There are the onlookers at the grocery store. Even sometimes family. So many eyes looking at you, judging you, labeling you, stepping in and “fixing” the situation like the doctor in urgent care.
Read full article here: http://www.scarymommy.com/please-dont-worry-about-my-strong-willed-child
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