I hosted a baby shower for my youngest sister this past weekend. I rented a suite because I live about 2 hours away and it would be easier for me to hold it close to everyone else. This would be an overnight trip so I figured it would be the perfect opportunity for the BF's daughter and I to have some one on one time.
We left Friday night and on the car ride over all was well...she was excited, I was excited, everything was cool.
The following day, the day of the shower, we had to do a little running around to get the cake and other things here and there, and that all went well.
The party was two hours away when we got back to the hotel room and I enlisted the daughter9 and my mother's help to decorate while I did everything else. Her behavior with mom was a little less that desirable but okay, was being a little bossy but my mom would kid with her and the daughter would calm down a bit...and took it all in fun.
The problem came when the party started....OMFG!!! The child regressed from a nine year old to a 3..no a 2 year old. This girl was running around being LOUD, sticking stuff in people's faces, running in between people....I kept pulling her to the side and telling her "hey, calm down...be quieter, we are all here to have fun but you are taking too far".
She'd go off and do her thing and play with my niece(5yrs) then start being loud again. At one point, one of my aunts the most docile of them, was talking to the daughter9 about something, I can't remember now, but she took a tone with my aunt!!! The look on my aunt's face was of disbelief and she rephrased what she asked the girl, because I figure she thought the girl didn't hear her correctly....but sure enough she got the same response from this child. I quickly correctly the child and told her she doesn't talk to adults that way ESPECIALLY when they are trying to be helpful.
Then came time for the shower games...she was trying to take over the games and run them....I told her "No!"
I let her play the games but I told her that she could but if she won she wouldn't get a prize because those were for the guests, and it wouldn't be fair because she already knew what the prizes were. She won a game and tried to choose a prize after I told her No, and then gave me a sad face when I told her No again...thank goodness she didn't throw a fit.
The last straw was the final shower game...it was a timed guessing game...and I was passing out notepads and pens...and she blurted out what the game was before I got to my timer!!! I yelled her name out!! She stopped and I gave her a stern talking to....she was much better after that. But OMG!! I was soooo embarrassed....I can't even put into words how embarrassed I was by her behavior. :jawdrop: My other aunt, the more ornery out of them, was getting fed up with this child.
I have never had a child behave like that with me. I could take my son (now 13) anywhere with me and he didn't act up. He always was respectful of people in his environment. He spoke when spoken to and didn't just butt into conversations....he would ask questions at the appropriate time.....I mean this little girl is a far cry from what I raised my son to be.
When I spoke to her father the following morning he asked me how everything went...I had to tell him the truth. I could hear his energy level go down and it wasn't what he wanted to hear. I told him I was disappointed in her behavior but that I didn't regret taking her with me for the weekend. I have to take this as a learning experience and its one for her too.
However, I don't like the way he handled it...brought it up to her but didn't make a big deal out of it. He said well you know we talked to you about working on this stuff this summer...and then kind of made light of the situation. Well no wonder she has no respect.
I still have to talk to him about the way he handled it. I was hoping that we would handle it together in a serious way.
Wow, the post is much longer than I anticipated....LOL
Am I wrong in thinking that a nine year isn't suppose to act this way??