With Great Days, Not-So-Great Must Follow!

Well, today I believe that Thea realized she has “Met her Match” . . . or should I appropriately say “I’ve Met Mine”!!!!!

Whoa Mama!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I mention that our daughter is stubborn and strong-willed?

Yes, along with being a really smart, loving, girly girl (like you Janie bug), sweet, gentle and compassionate (like you Benjamin), she is silly, Stubborn and Strong-willed (like you Eva)!

I must admit that tonight I whipped out my "The Connected Child" book and anxiously turned to the applicable chapter of “You Are the Boss”! I had to refresh myself on the “The Old Way Doesn’t Work” and “A New Way of Thinking About Discipline” sections!!! Our daughter is exceptionally smart + stubborn + strong-willed = HELP!!! I humbly request that if you are reading this and have some tried and true advice, bring it on! :) Oh, and prayers are appreciated very much!

One thing to note – before breakfast I reached down into Kam’s suitcase. I don’t know what happened, but I pulled something in the middle of my shoulder blade, up to my neck. I haven’t been able to turn my neck either way all day and I’m in pain :( . . . not the ideal day for a battle! Good thing Mark is strong and gentle.

Our day started with Thea’s medical appointment. That probably wasn’t the best way to start things off. I had to ask our guide, Judy, to explain to her what was going to happen. She seemed fine with what Judy was telling her. Well, she became defiant the second we walked through the doors for her picture, which happens just before the clinic. The exam consists of 3 separate “stations”, but Thea had to do 4, because of her age. We walked through the doors and into the clinic – she began crying and telling the doctors “no” at everything they requested. Mark had to get on the scale to show her that it wouldn’t hurt. She eventually complied. Then came the blood pressure, which Kam tried to be an example. That was the worst part – screaming, crying, wailing her arms, calling for her nanny. The rest of the exams didn’t go particularly well either. I’ll spare you the ugly details. So, unless you’d like to see Thea’s tonsils, there are not a lot of photos for this portion of the day!

It was raining all day, so we spent much of the afternoon in our room. Actually, I had to leave for an hour to meet our guide and fill out adoption paperwork for the US Consulate. During my absence, it was a battle of the wills with Mark and Thea AND Kam and Thea. When I returned, I was welcomed by a little girl who had been crying and screaming at her daddy for 30 minutes or so. She wanted a toy that Kam had purchased earlier. She didn’t like that she didn’t get her own way. She also didn’t like that Mark wouldn’t let her out of the room to try and find me. He had to gently lead her by the hand away from the door a couple of times.

Let’s just say that many moments of our day consisted of the word “NO”, from Thea, “YES!” from us, stomping of feet and crying. Dinner wasn’t any better. As you can see in the group photo, Thea is missing. That is because she didn’t want a picture taken and got on the floor behind my chair! After this little episode, I told her we were all done and we were going back to the hotel (a very short walking distance). She understands a lot of what I am saying. She said “No”! I said “Yes”! I took her hand gently and led her through the restaurant while she was screaming at me and crying. I’m not quite sure what she was screaming, but all the Chinese in the room had very concerned looks on their face :) After walking a block, I handed Thea over to Mark. Lisa needed me to go with her to order a silk Chinese dress. When I got back to the hotel, I found Mark in the gameroom with Kam, Thea, Shawn and Chuck. Thea was obviously done with her episode and enjoying her time playing games.

Once we got back to our room, Thea’s attitude changed completely (for the 50th time today). She pulled out her schoolbooks again and showed us the papers that had 100% on them. She took out a workbook with areas not yet finished and had us in awe at the math problems she whipped out in seconds. She knew we were impressed. After the schoolwork came “clean the Barbie” :) She washed her, changed her clothes and did her hair. She is cracking me up with the Barbie hairdos! She asked me to take a picture, so I posted it.

Although our day was full of MANY challenges, it was also filled with 100 Chinese “I Love You’s” from us, of which she responded “NO!” to :), lots of hugs and many kisses. During the short periods where Thea forgot to be mad at us, she offered hugs spontaneously and continued to repeat English words.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring? God is teaching me much on this trip!

Signing off for tonight from China.
Thanks for reading,
Kari