Note to Mom, Dad and Abby

My daughter, Angelique (aka Kippy) is a pretty emotional child. Her highs are really high and her lows are really low. Hummm.... wonder where she got that from? Movin' on...

Kippy got a new book from the book fair on Wednesday and was very engrossed in it. So much so, Steve eventually had to tell her to put the book away and get ready for supper. Steve ended up repeating himself numerous times, getting more frustrated with her and Angelique started to get really emotional. She was mad and did some stomping (her favorite way to show us she is mad) and accidentally stubbed her toe on the chair. She then began wailing in a super, exaggerated way... and it went on and on. She was finally sent to her room to get control of herself.

It took her about 10 minutes for her to be ok to come for supper and in the meantime she cranked out this letter to us all.

It read as follows...

"Note to Mom, Dad and Abby:

This is not how I like life rite now nothing is a teeny bit good not even a smig. What I think is all people need is respect, but rite now I’m not getting any R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

I didn't find her note until lunch yesterday when I was putting some of her things away in her bedroom. I showed it to Steve and although we chuckled, I thought it was important that we take her note seriously. So I wrote a note back to her that read...

Dear Angelique,

I really appreciate that you wrote a note about your feelings. This is a very positive way to express them and I am impressed by your choice!

I am sorry that you feel that you are not respected. Please know that to have respect and gain respect, you must also act with respect. This means to be respected you must be respectful. We all need to work on that.

I know you get frustrated when you are told you need to do something and you don’t feel ready; however, it is important that rules are followed. A simple, “Yes, Mom.” Or “Yes, Dad.” would be all that is required. When you act calm and follow the directions given by your parents, things will go smoothly.

You are making so many good choices in your behavior. Writing your feelings down is a very mature choice. We all get frustrated and want others to listen and respect us. Dad and I work very hard to teach you and Abby how to act respectfully to one another.

You are a beautiful person, inside and out. We love you dearly and are so grateful to be blessed with you as our daughter.

Please continue to express your feelings in positive ways like you did by writing your note. Please be careful about exaggeration. When one thing does not go your way, it does not mean every thing is bad. This means when you stub your toe, your family isn’t bad and your life isn’t bad. It means that your toe hurts.

You are loved unconditionally by your parents. Unconditionally means that even if you make mistakes or make bad choices, we still ALWAYS love you. Please remember that when you are feeling angry or upset with the consequences of your actions.

Much love, many hugs and kisses, XXX OOO

From, Mom

When she got home from school, I told her to go check out her desk. She read the note from me and gave me a hug and then we talked about it some more. Kippy keeps things entertaining around here!