Bad Mommy

O got in trouble at school today. Her teachers didn't make a big deal about it, but just wanted to let me know what had happened. The worrying parent that I am, I ended up speaking with the assistant teacher for 30 minutes about the problem.

I spoke to O about it and she didn't have a lot to say. Then, at dinner, when Daddy was home, I told him what had happened and filled him in on the discussion that I had with the assistant teacher. O again didn't have much to say even though we asked her some questions about it.

After she excused herself from dinner, she went off into a corner of the yard and worked on something. We didn't think much of it because she's always engaged in some sort of "project." A bit later, she came to us and told us there was something she wanted us to see. We walked over to the area where she had been working and she pointed to a heart she had drawn in the dirt with a stick.

"This is a heart for Daddy," she said. It had an O and a D inside it, for O and Daddy. Then she pointed to another heart she had drawn in the dirt, and said, "This heart is for J." It had an O and a J in it. Then she pointed to a square and said, "And this is for Mommy." Daddy asked, "Why does Mommy get a square and not a heart?" She answered, "Because she's a bad mommy."

Honestly, my first reaction was to yell at her and storm off. Fortunately, I refrained, took a deep sigh, hugged her and said, "You're mad at Mommy, huh?" Of course she was. She felt I had betrayed a trust and had "gotten her in trouble" with Daddy, even though I'm much more the disciplinarian in our home. But of course, there's no way I wouldn't share this kind of information with her daddy.

Oh, my poor sweet introverted baby, living in an extroverted family. Thank goodness we are finally starting to understand you.

Later, she came to me again. She had something to show me. This time, I got a heart too, complete with a K and an O in it.

Sigh.