Oh, I meant it when I said it doesn't bother me that she has violent impulses. My earnest liberal granola parent side expresses itself in wanting to keep her away from Barbies--water pistols, toy swords, etc. are just fine in my book. But I still haven't settled on any kind of parenting philosophy WRT discipline, so I want to make sure my instinctive impulses are neither too lax nor too harsh.

That's just normal tantrum stuff, Susan. You can expect more of it in the next year. Probably a lot more.

Again, I know she's normal--I just wanted to make sure I'm not being too harsh or too lax in my response.

I just wanted to make sure I'm not being too harsh or too lax in my response.

Nope, that's fine. But you might want to discuss your discipline philosophy/stratgegy with Dylan, because it's probably going to be an issue. Willful children who don't like to be thwarted tend to have tantrums. (My experience with Emmett anyway.)

Annabel strikes me as the kind of child who knows what she wants.

Thanks for the ~ma guys.

Tantrums! Today on the bus a, oh, two or three year old was having a screaming fit. Piercing. Her poor mother (who had another munchkin in her lap)! People in the bus started to "shush" the girl (not in a nasty way) and the Mom pounced on it "see, you need to stop screaming, they're saying 'shush'" and it WORKED. She'd get a little worked up again and people would chime in. It was so clear that she was just frustrated and out of control and the distraction helped her break out of that cycle -- and the Mom was so smart to just roll with it. It was such a neat New Yorky moment.

IS anyone gathering flower money for Polgara? This is unbelievable and horrid.

poke, poke

Sounds like the right thing to me Susan.

I am all for stating the rules in firm voices. People think I am odd for telling toddlers " shhh" or "no yelling " or " quite voice". . I don't really expect them to be quite - or really even understand the concept. but someone has to tell them.

Emmet's story is why I don't let kids get away with even that punch-to-the-sholder greeting in the library. It can escalte or change way too fast. Or invovle people that didn't want to be invovled. Some of them get it. Others leave the library for the day a lot.

I am all for stating the rules in firm voices. People think I am odd for telling toddlers " shhh" or "no yelling " or " quite voice". . I don't really expect them to be quite - or really even understand the concept. but someone has to tell them.

Yes, and it's a process. They learn by association, and over time, and from your face and tone-of-voice, as much as from the words, themselves.

Dad is in the recovery room -- the angiogram showed that he had some blockage in his vein graft[1], near one of the first stents[2] that was put in, way back when. ([1] He had a quadruple bypass 6 or 7 years ago -- 3 of the bypasses were arteries and one was a leg vein. Vein grafts tend to re-block very easily, and his has, repeatedly. His 3 artery grafts, however, are wide wide wide open. [2] If you get a stent these days, they're coated with heparin to prevent clotting/blocking; however, some of the oldest ones in Dad's vein graft are so old that they pre-date the heparin-coated ones. If you add [1] and [2], you get a whammy.)

No heart attack, though, everything went smoothly. They're going to keep him overnight, because they gave him so much blood thinner that they want to make sure that he starts clotting properly. It looks bad when a hospital releases a patient who bleeds to death in the parking lot.

So, relief. But my autonomic nervous system is still thinking I'm stressed. Narf.

I thought haberdashers did hats.

Haberdashers do clothes. A "gentleman's haberdasher" sells suits, shirts, socks...

Isn't a milliner a hatmaker? (Maybe just women's hats?)

The funniest thing is when he gets mad and gives himself a time out

This is the cutest thing EVAR!

Glad the Emmett bully situation was resolved before anything more violent occurred. (I would kick ASS if anyone bullied my kid.)

I am so sorry about Polgara's mom. I can't do much, but if anyone wants to use the Teleflora gift certificate I have, it's good until the 30th.

The bob had a date Saturday. Today he gave me three new projects. Heh.

Jobma to Trudy and Anne. I hope things work out splendiferously for both of you.

I have pictures! Unfortunately they're not uploading properly, but here are the first two of our birthday girl: [link] [link]

She's modeling one of the shirts Auntie sj gave her; blowing out the candles she picked out for her cake.