parenting tips for girls

Where is the three year old in this photo? Outside the frame, bawling because someone took her favorite fill_in_the_blank. Having a three year old girl, and this SweetPea with her particular temperament, feels so different than having had a three year old boy who is coming up on five in just a few days here (stop the sands of time!!!). His personality presented its own challenges, as does hers. I wrote about his challenges: Three steps to taming your tantruming toddler; Three & a half year old habits & mama bad habits; how I keep my kids from killing each other; and more in the archives under “kid.” In a way, I was prepared for the prefrontal cortex burgeoning and developing at a rapid, can’t-keep-up-with-the-spasm-de-jour pace. In many ways, I was not prepared for how sensitive to me and my moods she would be. Girl thing or her thing? Either way, I’ve learned the hard way about how to lovingly parent a sensitive three year old. So naturally, I thought I would foist my experience on to you! 1) Hear her out. When she starts freaking out, I try to take her aside and hear exactly what it is that’s bothering her, being sure to repeat it to her so she knows I get it//got it//good. Many times, this simple act of acknowledgment is a calming force. It may take 3-4 minutes to get it all out of her and restate it, but that could mean the difference between a relatively…