K.Lo has been testing Management lately with outright defiance re: doing what she is told. Mainly we experience escalations over toys not being put away; she has never been particularly interested in the activity, and while I’m willing to cut a little slack, she does have to learn. More importantly, she has to learn to do what Management tells her to do. So unlucky is this employee, having to abide by company rules! The CEO and are fairly consistent in our discipline methods, though that doesn’t mean it’s a whole lot of fun. Frankly, I feel pretty mean in the moment, but after the situation has cooled down and I mull over how it all went down, I remember that the employee was given more than a few chances, asked nicely, even cheerfully, to begin with, etc. And then, a choice has to be made: let K.Lo get away with the ECC violation and take care of cleanup later, myself, or force the issue. Unfortunately, letting the issue go seems a very good way to end up with a child along the lines of Veruca Salt, and so, force the issue it is. Sigh.

Today, however, K.Lo “won” after I walked away from one such conflict by curling up under a blanket and taking a nap. Puzzle pieces still not put back in the box… I will give you the point, little one, but know that I will win this game.

It is perhaps all part of being a girl. And in more pleasant ways, K.Lo’s got girliness down. She continues to be very into dresses, shoes, necklaces and barrettes. Last week at a huge secondhand sale of kids’ items we attended, she chose a very girly pink Dora lunchbox purse, which she then filled with another selection from the sale, a pack of nail polishes and lip glosses. Fancy. She picked out some Barbies as well, and over the weekend away, filled up on Barbie movies, as well as her new copy of Cinderella, from Grandma. I will note that I, as a young employee, wasn’t nearly so girly as K.Lo, particularly on the Barbie-loving front, but it’s sweet to watch evolve.

Lastly, I’m not quite sure where she learned this concept, but it seems K.Lo knows about Bad Hair Days. One recent morning standing in the mirror next to the CEO, she commented thoughtfully, “My hair… is not so good today.” Love it.