Dear Sonia,
You are really doing awesome learning your letters. Anything put in front of you, you spell out. "Look, Mommy. M-I-L-K." Very smart, darling. You will not be 3 for another 23 days!
You have a new sticker chart to help you do better with your demanding behavior. You are doing pretty well, actually. Last week - Mommy closed the shower door so you could splash around in the bath and then when you said you were done splashing, she opened the door. Normally, this might have elicited a fit of you screaming about wanting to do it yourself which might dissolve into a crying jag. But this time, you looked at your mom and said "Excuse me, Mommy, but I wanted to do that myself." So Mom closed the door again and you opened it and all was well. You got TWO stickers for that awesomeness.
Anyway, you needed to put a sticker on your chart yesterday for some other awesome thing, so you said "What day is it, Mommy?" And she told you it was Sunday. "Look for S-U-N" she said. And you did. And then you put your sticker in the box. Not only can you recognize your letters and use them for things, you are also learning the days of the week! Nice one.
That same morning, you were all trying to get out of the house for something. Your mom had to go upstairs for a minute for something, so she asked you to sit next to Sage and give her toys and play with her. Then she went upstairs. She came right back down, more or less, because she decided leaving the two of you alone might not be such a great idea. And there you were, coming out of the pantry closet with one hand behind your back.
"What are you doing, Sonia?" Mommy asked.
"Nothing," you said.
"What is behind your back?" Mommy asked.
"Nothing," you said.
"Nothing? Something is in your hand. What is it?" Mommy asked.
"I don't know," you tried.
"You don't know what is in your hand? Really?" Mommy asked. I can't remember if she implored you to tell the truth at this point or if you just cracked. But crack you did.
"Fruity snacks," you said, showing them to Mommy.
"What are you doing with them?" Mommy asked.
"I was going to sit at my little table and eat them," you claimed. Um, really? Right where Mommy could see you when she came back down?
Your mom confiscated the snacks and almost put them in her bag to give them to you later before coming to her senses, telling you to put them back where they belong and taking away your fruity snack privileges for the rest of the day. She made sure to tell you why.
"You get no fruity snacks today because you were sneaky and you lied about it," she said. Good mommy, doling out relevant punishments and explaining them. Good for development.
Course, you had a fit. Crying like someone told you you couldn't have fruity snacks for the rest of your life instead of a day. Yeah, girly. Sucks when you get caught. But usually, not doing stuff you know you shouldn't do works better than trying not to get caught. That just turns into a wicked web.
So, while it is awesome that you can probably read F-R-U-I-T-Y right on the box and not accidentally sneak a pack of oatmeal or something, you should stick to waiting till it's snack time. Sound good?
Love,
Auntie K
