As the minutes ticked by, more kids arrived. It got to be too crowded for the girls to run up and down the steps.
The mother that was watching the other two girls told them to stop and they stopped immediately.
I told the Princess to stop too.
Of course, she kept on running up and down the steps anyway. I said, "That's one" after she went running up the steps. I said, "That's two", after she went running down the steps. I said, "Do you want to leave and go home?". She said no (so, I knew she could hear me).
Then, the little boy standing nearby honestly and bluntly said to his mom, "That girl isn't listening to her mommy."
Leave it to a child to say what the other moms probably were thinking. And how true it was. She went running up the steps one more time and gates opened, so I didn't get to follow through with my threat.
That's the story of my life these days. "She doesn't listen to her mommy." I've asked her countless times to stop jumping on the couch. I've asked her countless times to stop stepping on her toys. I've asked countless times for her to stop pulling her brother along by a limb. She just doesn't listen.
That's me in a nutshell...the ineffectual parent.
