Latent Anger

Latent Anger

Last night all was bliss as the kids were asleep by 9.30pm. At about 12am, the hubby and I were watching a disc when he suddenly stopped and asked if I heard something. It turned out to be Meryl throwing a silent temper tantrum. She was stamping her feet on bed, clenching her fists and making short grunts. When queried, she refused to tell us what was bothering her. We brought her out in case her brother woke up. The hubby and I tried all means to find out what was wrong but she kept mum and continued with her silent outburst. When the hubby threatened to punish her she still did not bulge but instead she starting screaming. That was when my hubby got tough with her. It took us a good 30 mins or so of threatening and coaxing before she verbalised what was bothering her.

'Mummy, remember you said that you will wake up at 5 just now? Why you didn't wake up? And you never bring me down to playground...'

That was in the afternoon and they were playing with their new LaQ construction set together with their Sylvanian toys in my room while I was catching a nap. I told them that I will wake at 5 to see what they have constructed. I did but then fell asleep again after I praised their work as I was really very, very tired. I remembered Kyle asking me if they could watch cartoon and I gave permission to watch for half and hour. Then they came in and asked if they could go to the playground and I okayed it provided Kyle promised to finish his dinner within 1/2 an hour. Then they were gone, with the helper. And I continued sleeping.

The evening was spent with Meryl doing some writing and Kyle playing sudoku and word puzzle. By 9, they were showered, changed, drank their milk, brushed their teeth and then it was storybook time till about 9.20. We did the routine stuff, like pray, sing songs and then in no time, Meryl was asleep.

Therefore it came as a surprise when she woke up in anger. Although she claimed that it was because I did not bring he to the playground I felt that it runs deeper. She is getting more demanding with her expectations from me, wanting my fullest attention and presence. The perfectionist streak in her (as seen from her drawings) cannot accept anything less than what she perceive to be perfect. To her, I have fallen short and she is angry. On top of that, her brother of late has taken to teasing her mercilessly and she has fought back by punching him and calling him names such as 'shut-up face' but still he continued, taking delight in seeing her reactions. She may have bottled up her anger as we do not approve of her hitting her brother.

I will need to moderate her expectations from me and I may need a talk with my son soon.