Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Growing Pains

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My Zoe has gone through a period of growth, lately, that began very roughly. I began noticing a surge of resistance in her a couple of months ago. At a younger age she was very prone to throwing all out screaming and kicking tantrums at the drop of a hat and, though, she seemed to have outgrown it some time ago, we began seeing more and more of this turbulent behavior again. This was very hard on all of us and my husband and I struggled to understand what was causing this seeming regression. I kept wanting to believe it must be a period of growth she was working out and would run it's course.
With a sigh of relief I can surely say that's exactly what it was. She came out of it and is once again my happy girl, but with a new maturity that wasn't there before. I'm finding she is more eager to pitch in and help out when it's time to clean up a mess. More and more she's wanting to conquer things she wasn't ready for before... helping out in the kitchen more, taking care of her own hygiene, tidying her own bed in the morning. She wants to do more and is no longer happy to sit back and let everyone else do. Things she's only watched her older sister do in the past she's now ready to try her hand and what pride beams from her when she really does it!

Change and growth can be so hard for a child to get through, much like new teeth popping into a baby's mouth. But when they reach the other side it's truly amazing to see this new side of them. What a blessing to be able to witness it!