pooka's tantrums are starting to make a comeback. she was doing really well for awhile, but lately the smallest things are setting her off. and when she's with me, we're like fire and kerosene.
i've talked to her teacher about the situation and i've talked to various members of my family about it. finally, it clicked: the return of the tantrums coincides with kisu's schedule change.
at the time, he went from mon through thu 9 am - 8 pm (where he could see pooka for a few minutes before school and a few before she went to bed and we had the weekend together) to fri thru sun and tue 10 am - 9 pm (which got him home a little too late for her to be waiting and totally hosed the weekend.) since he now works fri thru mon 3 pm - 2 am, he hardly sees her at all. he gets home way too late to wake up and see her before school but they have a couple hours on saturday. when bug gets the rare opportunity to see him, she barely recognizes him.
pooka has even started talking at school about how much she misses her father and how she doesn't get to see him much. (did i mention that i'm chopped liver to her?) the realization of it is breaking kisu's heart. right now, there's nothing we can do about the schedule, but we have to work on the areas we can. that means consistent rules and reactions (our weak point) and making the most of the time pooka and kisu can have together.
this is having an effect on our marriage, as well, moreso than pooka's treatment ever did, but we can cope with that a bit better than a 6 year old can. but there is a finite length of time to tolerate this schedule before changes and damages are done that turn out to be irreparable.
fortunately, kisu was handed the reigns for creating next month's work schedule. i see big changes coming for may. if we can only survive april.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
