Excitement

How lenient should we be when dealing with excited, nervous children? I tend to harden up and become an impenetrable wall of boundaries around them, constantly insisting that they do as they are told.

I think that we can teach children that obedience is required however excited they are, however noisy talk, excited laughing and other evidences of excitement warrant grace.

Today was the day for a piano concert for the four year old girl. Much blame for her behaviour must go to the adults hyping her up about her concert, the pretty dress, and the song she would play. This was a means to an end to get her to practice the song. However this meant that I was dealing with the Queen of Sheba this morning when I was getting her ready. She hid coyly, peeped out around cupboards "shyly" and pretended to be a scared little waif when I asked her to do anything. She was, for want of a better phrase, full of her own importance. After she had performed her piece she went to sit with her grandfather, she sat still enough initially but shortly began playing cats under the chairs while other children were playing their pieces. I took her out to have words with her and she defiantly turned her head and body away. I was very cross and told her she had been rude, she said sorry and we went in. The cutesy behaviour did not stop. After the awards and certificates were handed out, she was clinging to her mothers skirt and refused to have a photo.

All this was manipulative and not her normal self. Some could be explained by excitement, however most of it was rude or disobedient and needed to be treated as such. On the way home, after she had eaten, she was largely settled and beck to her normal self. Hopefully the return to earth will be speedy and last a while. The arrogance was similar to that of birthday children who believe the world ought to revolve around them for the day.