What's up with her!

Today Eden woke up pretty early and I had her come into our room to cuddle. Like most Saturday mornings, Eden loves to get the attention from us. We were talking to her and then all of a sudden she started hitting me. Ed jumped up and told her it wasn't OK to hurt her mom, and he took her out of the room.

We knew that we had a long day out of the house yesterday and today we had a birthday party to go to. Ed and I made sure Eden stayed home and had a low key day so she would be good. It seemed like she just had a touch of something today. I don't know if it was bad behavior or what; but we couldn't get her to stop hitting people. It even took me 2 hours of chasing her to have her get dressed. I didn't want to have to hold her down to get her dressed because it was Saturday and we had a lot of time I did let her get away with a little more.

The birthday party was super fun and I completely enjoyed seeing everyone. Eden was very well behaved. She had no issues at the party at all.

When we got home Eden was getting into something and I told her no. She got very angry at me and started destroying things. She wiped out the things on the little kids table we had and started to knock over chairs. She even got angry and tried to throw things at me. I'm not sure what is going on when she does this behavior. I'm not sure if it is frustration or anger. It's hard to tell. I'm not even quite sure how to deal with this kind of behavior. Do I hit her back when she hits me to show it hurts? No, I really hate the thought of that and what it would lead to. When I punish her by telling her to go to her room all she does is repeat it back to me, most of the time she is screaming it back at me. "Time outs" don't work, at all, that's what we started doing when she was young.

All I know is, that if I go by what these evaluators are telling me. It is not my fault. I did nothing wrong raising her and I know that, but sometimes not knowing how to deal with things is so frustrating. I've never had to deal with this stuff before. The other thing I know is, it is not her fault either. I really think she knows right from wrong but I think that sometimes that part of her brain doesn't talk and tell her it is wrong. I'm not putting everything into what everyone is telling me, don't get me wrong. I think once she gets all of the tools she needs she can be an easier child.

Carly and Tanya are so patent with her. They know enough to tell me when she starts to be destructive or hurt them. I've been trying to teach them some of the tools I've learned so far, that way they have the knowledge they need. They are such good girls all three of them. When Eden is good, she is a joy to have around. The other girls I usually keep up late on some occasions so I can get some good quality time with them. That's what I'll do tonight.