Yesterday, I told the story of Claire and her maturity.  Today I want to tell you the story of Claire and her ~ um, I’m not sure the right word is immaturity but it’s something akin to that.  I really wanted to find a way to combine the two stories but they are so vastly different…coming in from two polar opposite sides of the spectrum, I didn’t know how to tell these two stories as one.

My darling, little Claire ~ the one who presents herself to the world as self confident and self assured has been breaking down in sobs lately.  And most of the time, not over anything big or major.  Most of the time it’s something as minor as forgetting to pack her swim suit in her swim bag or that I forgot to bring dinner to the dance studio so she could eat on the way to swim practice (dinner did show up it was just a little late.)   You would think that the world was ending with how she carries on.  Case in point…Monday ~ the kids were off from school but Claire’s swim practice was still on, as usual.  I came to her at 5:30 to let her know it was time to get ready to be picked up for swim practice at 6.  Then the explosion happened…tears flowed, sobs wracked her body and the hyperventilation began.  She could not, for the life of her, calm herself down or tell me what was wrong.  Luckily, calm Jenni took over and talked her through the latest and greatest crisis.  She only had a half an hour to get ready, she said…she didn’t have dinner ready.  She wasn’t in her swimsuit  Her bag wasn’t packed.  She didn’t know it was Monday.  She thought it was Sunday, she said.  She doesn’t have swim practice on Sundays and since she didn’t have school she just assumed she didn’t have swim.  I did talk her off the ledge and help her get ready in a mere half an hour but those sobs were out of control for the situation at hand.

I think the cause of her drama is combination of a couple of things and they are driving her over the edge ~ or maybe it’s a few things combined.  Whatever it is, I hope it goes away soon….but somehow I have a feeling this drama is here to stay for a little while.

If I look back at this time last year, through my blog, I can see that her behavior is similar to how it was last year at this time.  She had melt down after melt down after melt down.  There were so many occasions where she steered herself toward Meltdown City on Panic Highway. I think this is the time of year where her  the stress of her activities catches up to her.

I think, too, that her schedule this year is much tougher than last year.  She has too much on her plate and we all know it but it was her decision, good or  bad, and now she has to suck it up…unfortunately.  And it may sound harsh but there is no backing out now.  She made a commitment to both swim and dance and there are no ifs, ands or buts about it.

The third factor that may be contributing to the meltdowns is simply her age.  She’s getting to “that” age…the age where hormones take over and rule the roost.  I don’t like it and I don’t really want to think about it but it’s a fact of life.  She’s growing up.

The tears are a killer ~ for all of us.  The boys look at her as if she has three heads.  Stan looks at her like she’s lost her mind.  I have had to step back and take several deep breaths hoping these tears shall pass ~ and pass quickly. I’m not much of a drama mama….tears, tears and more tears are more than most of us can handle.

Oh, for the love of my children….