Ella Chronicles

The path of this blog has twisted and turned so many times over the past few years that I have somehow deviated from why I started it in the first place. Initially it was meant to be an online journal that I could look back on to remember the hilarious stories of our life. While those stories are sometimes intertwined within my posts, most have become big picture, deep thought, analysis-type writing. While I enjoy writing of all styles, there are some journalistic posts that are pretty hilarious and require documentation.

It seems our 4-year-old has turned into a teenager overnight. I always say 4 going on 14, but lately she has taken it to a whole new level. Now, not only is she naughty, but she's devious too. Every night at bedtime she fills her water, grabs a snack (no judgement) and picks out about ten different books she'd like to read. The other night we got into bed, but she didn't get a snack - which immediately alerted me that something was up. As I went to pull up her covers she panicked and reached towards her legs to retrieve a crumpled kleenex. I asked her what it was and as she gripped it close to her chest she responded with, "just a kleenex. You know how my nose runs!" I then asked to see it and she said, "mom - it's time for bed." The flag was up, she has NEVER said something to effect of wanting to go to bed. I demanded that she hand over the goods and as I unwrapped it I discovered she had snuck a chocolate snack from the pantry. Not only had she lied, but she also was smart enough to unwrap it so that it wouldn't make noise as she tried to eat it.

We then spent the next 30 minutes talking about why it's so important to tell the truth and not hide things from our parents. She promised to never do it again and fell fast asleep. Problem solved, right? Wrong.

Two days ago she was given Starbursts for being a good girl while running errands. She had eaten three when I said she could have one more & we'd to save the rest for after lunch. Without a fight, she went to the kitchen and put them up on the counter. Again, red flag. In disbelief, I snuck around the corner to watch and she jumped as if I had startled her. I asked what she was doing and with a Starburst in mouth she said, "nothing!" I asked how many she had taken and she replied, "you said I could have one more." Still doubtful, I followed up with, "well why do you look like you're lying then?" At that same time one of the dogs needed to go outside so I had to turn and open the door. As I did I saw her grab something and then quickly place it on the counter and she said again, "I'm not lying." I walked over to the counter to find an unwrapped Starburst that she had snuck down her tights for later. In her tights!

As I yelled at her once again, she stomped away screaming, "it's not fair. I hate you mom!" I have always known that this day would come but I thought I had longer than 4 and a half years. I shouldn't be surprised, I did the same thing to my mom, but I feel like I never pulled the HATE card until I was at least a teenager.

What am I going to do with this girl? While these stories are comical now, what's it going to be like when she's actually a teen? If she hates me now I can only imagine how bad it might get. Please pray for us!