I'm afraid SophieMN has a weak sense of humor.

[LaraMN]

I flung some pumpkin guts at her, they hit her in the face, and she started crying about it.

When I did it to NoelMN, he squealed and slapped a pile of guts on my arm.

In another instance, I rolled her up in a blanket like a burrito and then told her I was going to leave her that way until her dad got home. She cried.

Yesterday, I shoved her Bratz doll's disembodied head into my mouth and pretended to swallow it.
She cried.

How anyone can live with me for five years and not realize that I'm ALWAYS joking is beyond me.



:eyes:

[idgiehkt]

1. wow

my first thought was I hope the kids at school don't figure out how sensitive she is...kids can be so mean to the ones that are that tender-hearted. I think she is lucky to have you as a Mom in a sense, because if that does come up as an issue you can teach her how to pretend that things like don't bother her, so she won't be a target of bullies, and show her that sometimes people just do things like that to be funny, and they are not trying to rip her heart out with their teeth and bite in in half (which is sometimes how sensitive kids interpret things). I may be projecting my issues onto this, lol, but your post reminded me so much of how I was as a kid...honest to God, Lara, I was also a tattletale from beyond...I know you've shared about her tattling here as well.

[LaraMN]

3. She's sensitive, but she's usually pretty assertive.

Once, I had to retrieve her from the playground after she sucker-punched a much bigger boy who was teasing and picking on her.

I was actually a little concerned she might beat on kids at school, if they picked on her. I think she's matured to the point where she knows she CAN'T do that, though.

I just figured- she's a really smart girl- she ought to be able to discern teasing from meanness. I have to watch myself with her; she doesn't like to be kidded, I guess!

[idgiehkt]

8. good for her!

I was lucky in the sense that I wasn't bullied physically, though some of my friends were. I think it was because I just was so unaware of all the social undercurrents that I completely missed all the potential to offend people or make enemies. But the overly-literal interpretation of things...that comes from the aspie stuff for me, and to this day I can't tell if someone is being serious or not alot of the time. And the tattling stemmed from the same thing...."but it's the TRUTH"...lolol.

[IndianaJones]

2. try locking her in the closet for a few hours...thats good for some laughs...of course...

she'll "snap" out of this sensitive phase in due time.

[LaraMN]

4. I would hear about it for the next decade.

That girl's got a looooong memory!

[IndianaJones]

6. be sure to get it all in during the formative years....once they get beyond 10 or so...

its wasted.

[Flaxbee]

5. It's tough to be like that -- took me YEARS to lighten up, and still,

even now, approaching 40, sometimes I have to remind myself to chill out. I mean, I gravitate to places like the Lounge, I'm really pretty easygoing, am an optimist, but sometimes if the attention is turned on me or something I value, I can't handle it.

But I was the last kid - veerrry last kid, my sisters were all out of the house by the time I was 6, and my parents treated me very sensitively (probably not the best thing to do to an oversensitive kid). Sophie will lighten up, no doubt, with you and Noel around. But she might always just be a bit edgy or sensitive.

Anyway, end of my child psychoanalysis for the day.

[LaraMN]

7. I guess I got used to raising a boy, having a gap of four years

between Sophie and her older brother.
Nothing phases him. He's totally laid-back.
It's an interesting contrast.

[Lex]

21. Is it because he's a boy?

I have 2 nieces--one is laid back, nothing phases her. The other is constantly upset about trivial stuff.

[MrsMatt]

9. Speaking from experience, it will take quite a few years

before she'll appreciate your humor. My daughter is 10, and still calls me on my "mean jokes". She's getting better about understanding my humor, and I'm getting better at respecting her sensitivity.

As an example of my humor that she doesn't share: When out on an errand without my son(age 2), and am asked "Where's the little one?" I sometimes do the fake OMG look, as if I'd forgotten him somewhere, or I'll say something like, Oh, I just locked him in the trunk of the car; I left him playing at home with the toaster and a fork. My daughter thinks that is a mean & unfunny thing to say. She says I should just tell the truth. Where's the fun in that?

I used to tell her to put on a brave front and not show others when upset at school, because the kids would tease her until she'd cry. Her response; "But mom, I can't be someone I'm not!"

Good luck.

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. My son is more on the sensitive side

Like me. We both get mad when Dad pulls our legs.

[Midlodemocrat]

11. She's totally playing you.

She KNOWS you're joking, but is just trying to get the upper hand.

:rofl:

[LaraMN]

12. THAT is probably it.

Because she's a total smartass.
Hmmm... I may have to experiment...

[ohiosmith]

13. Will you adopt me?

[LaraMN]

14. Are you potty trained?

I don't want ANY MORE diaper-dependent individuals running around.

[ohiosmith]

20. Let me out for a few minutes each morning and evening and there will be no surprises.

[Book Lover]

15. You threw something at your kid's face, she got upset, but it's OK because it's all a joke?

Sorry - I can't back you up on this one. Please don't throw pumpkin guts in your kid's face, OK?

[PeaceNikki]

16. You're kidding, right?

Right?

[Book Lover]

17. Actually, no, I'm not.

Why would I be?

[Cabcere]

18. When I was about seven, my dad threw a ginormous snowball at me

and it hit me in the face, and I cried too. Of course I think part of that was the fact that it was icy and hard and sharp (I don't think he realized how bad it would hurt, and it was out of sheer bad luck that it hit me in the face - I had been turned around and he was trying to peg me in the back, but I turned at the last second). :shrug:

/irrelevant personal anecdote

[rug]

19. She will slit your throat when she's 28.