Anyone else?

[Anonymous]

Was thinking as I put my kids to sleep last night about how different their personalities are (so far at least - DS is little at 4 still). DS is sort of like a puppy - occassionally naughty as in eating my shoes but generally easily distracted into a good mood and general relatively happy go lucky. Older DD at 7 feels like I am trying to tame a horse. She is very emotional, feels things just very strongly (for good - getting extremely excited and into some things in very intense ways) and not so good (still weekly emotional outbursts when she feels "wronged" somehow). She I worry over so much since I never feel sure if I am doing the right thing by her in terms of a balance between strictness vs sensitivity.

Anyway... Not quite a vent. Just curious if others have the same "taming of a slightly wild animal" feel with their kids past preschool age.

[Anonymous]

I feel I'm much like your daughter, even as an adult. I wear my heart on my sleeve and am more passionate than I would like at times. More than strictness, have you tried introducing her to yoga, meditation, or breathing techniques? I wish I had tried some of these calming and regulating activities sooner as they are not habits I built.

[Anonymous]

Which animal are you, OP?

[Anonymous]

Pp - no we have not tried that. Thank you for the ideas.

- OP

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I am pretty intense and I didn't realize until I had DD that I had developed coping mechanisms like pp suggested. Or that when things get overwhelming, I will huddle up on the couch for a good old tv binge. Or get a meal by myself. The dailyt hings I did to be a balanced person were impossible to maintain when I had a child. Took a lot of reconciling that.

[dancingsunflowers06]

My son could be described as a wild animal - he loves to do what he wants to do, but when he has chores, homework or anything else required of him as a member of our family, he melts. We are just trying to be consistent with him so he know he can't just get away with only doing fun things!