After bringing our main man Ruckus into the mix I tend to forget about that extra attention Milo needs. Finally, the other night I had enough of the slaps to the face and when nothing else was working I thought to myself, “I need to just sit and have a conversation with her”. It happened to be that the perfect time was while I was taking her potty. She couldn’t go anywhere and we were at eye level. I started to talk to her and just like that, she had tried to hit me again. Milo is a stubborn little thing and if you tell her no, she’ll just stare you down and try to do it again. So I said “Milo, it makes mom so sad when you hit me. It makes Milo sad and dad sad. But guess what? When you give me hugs, it makes me so happy! And Milo happy and dad happy. When you tell me you love me, it makes me soooo happy”. Then Milo wanted to expand on the subject that it also makes “Ruckus so happy and Pixie and Reecie so happy (our dogs)”. So I’m thinking she got the gist of it. The next morning out of no where I get this big squeeze on my leg and a little voice that says “Mama, I love you”. Cue the tears because it was just that sweet. I kid you not, it’s been since last Friday night and I have yet to receive a slap to the face! Just yesterday she told me “no hitting, just hugs, it makes mama soooo happy”.
I’m not going to lie, my patience can run thin and sometimes it’s just easier to put her in time out because we both get a minute to ourselves. After thinking about that simple conversation I’ve realized, I’m the one who learned the biggest lesson, not Milo. I need to take more time to explain the basics because she’s not a baby any more. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s getting old and is so smart!
I’m not saying we’re both angels all of a sudden after this but we’re both trying our best! Small steps.
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