Naughty Nicoley!

We had many behavior problems with Nicole this weekend. She was disobedient for reasons unknown (other than her being two years old). I would send her to spanking land, but I don't actually spank, so I will have to be content with venting my frustrations on my blog.

Friday, we went to my brother Jake's house for the blessing of his baby. Nicole was fine at first, wanting to play with her cousins and being excited about being in a place she did not know. Then, it came time for the blessing. She sat next to me and folded her arms and was good for about 2 minutes and then her patience was up, the prayer was taking too long and she started to get restless. I leaned over to her and whispered that she should stay in her seat. Her response, "NO! I don't like the prayer!" Loudly, so that everyone could hear it in the middle of the blessing. I was so embarrassed.

Then, 10 minutes later, when it was time to bless the food, Nicole had had enough of prayers and when asked to be quiet during the blessing of the food, "No! I don't like the prayer. I not da da fold my arms!" Again, during the prayer because the prayer took more than the thirty seconds she was willing to wait for it.

I guess that I can kinda blame myself for this one. We keep our prayers short and sweet at home because I think that every prayer should have a purpose. When we bless the food, we bless the food, we don't go on about all the other things that we have been meaning to pray about. When we say prayers at bedtime, we pray with Nicole in mind, things she would want to pray about. Short and sweet. My personal prayers can get lengthy, but no need to subject others to all of my prayer thoughts, I save it for my own prayers.

Then, on Sunday, we were slightly late for church, so we sat in the foyer while the sacrament was going on. Nicole was out of control. It is like she had completely forgot what a whisper sounds like.

I whisper to Nicole, "Use your whisper voice."
Nicole in a loud voice, "LIKE THAT MAMA?"
Me, whispering again, "No, not like that, use your whisper voice."
Nicole in a high voice, "Like that Mama?"
Me, "No, just stop talking, play the quiet game."
Nicole in a monster voice, "Like that Mama?"
Me, "Arg!"

She just would NOT stop talking. Just asking me the same questions again and again and again.
"Like that Mama?"
"I hungry Mama!"
"I da da sit here Mama?"

Arg!

Then, she decided it would be a fun game to roll around the foyer. I was holding Daniel and so I asked her not to do it, then I told her not to do it, but she just ignored me, laughed and did it some more.

Then, she rolled over to the chapel door and I told her to get up and come to me. Instead, she laughed and started repeatedly kicking the chapel door! I was mortified! This, my child, is misbehaving so badly and I felt powerless to stop her. She  would  not  listen!

Matt and I had had it at this point, so Matt took her to sit in the car. She came back a little ways into sacrament meeting, but she was not better. She wouldn't stay sitting, she wouldn't stop talking, she was just so disobedient. So, I took Daniel and her home. Church is a privilege and if she can't behave, she has to go home. She cried her little eyes out and she went straight to her room when we got home, but I just didn't know what else to do.

I've always been critical of people who can't make their children behave during church. Letting them run up and down the isles. Letting them run up onto the stand. Letting them be loud and rowdy. And then, I felt like that mother who wants to just give up because the child is behaving so badly. I don't know what brought about this change, Nicole used to be so good during church, but the last two weeks, she has been a terror.

Naughty Nicoley