Yesterday afternoon the girls had an argument about whether we should go to the neighborhood pool or not. Tahlia wanted to go, Jazzie didn't. I know, what kid does NOT want to go to the pool, right? At one point Jazzie tells me: "Okay, I'll go to the pool if you play one game of Uno with me". Great, problem solved. We play the game and as soon as we were done, Jazzie tells me she changed her mind and does not want to go to the pool after all. I asked her if she lied to me when she said she would go to the pool just so that I would play a game with her. Her answer was yes...
When Jazzie was in first grade, she wrote this book called "Words of Wisdom". In it are sayings like "Treat others the way you want to be treated", "Learn to listen and listen to learn", etc. Also included in her book are "Always keep a promise", "Never tell a lie" and "Always keep your end of a deal you make". I explained to Jazzie that she not only lied to me, she also did not keep her promise, and she did not keep her end of the deal she made. I told her I was disappointed and that she had to go to the pool with Tahlia and myself because that was the promise she made after all.
So I made Jazzie change into her bathing suit, I slather sunscreen on her and we make our way to the pool. The entire time she is crying and telling me she does not want to go and that she is not going to go in the pool. When we get there, we find a seat and get all situated. Tahlia and I get in the pool and Jazzie is sitting on a chair with her arms crossed, still crying. Then she starts screaming that she hates the pool and that she wants to go home. I get out of the pool and tell her that she needs to stop screaming or she will be grounded. I get back into the pool and every time I look over at Jazzie, she is signing that she hates the pool. Smart little thing; at least she's not screaming :-)
At this point I am wondering if she does not like the pool because of her cochlear implants. It is true that Tahlia would MUCH rather go to the pool than Jazzie. And the last few times that we have been at the pool, I observed Jazzie watching her friends play in the water while she is off on her own. She cannot hear anything in the pool because her implants are off and I wonder if she is feeling isolated.
After a while Jazzie comes over and tells me she is getting hot. I asked her if she wants to come in the pool with me and she finally agrees. She gets in and just like that her mood is over. She is giggling, laughing and having fun. Remember that a mere 15 minutes earlier she told me "hates the pool", but now she is telling me that the "pool is so joyful". We ended up having a very fun time at the pool despite of all the drama that went on before.
Aaah, the drama. Don't you just love it?