What do you do with a 10yr old who when she gets cross....

[Northernlurker]

retreats to the bathroom where she uses her baby sister's bath crayons to chalk protest slogans on the tiles?

'This is not funny' was one

'I will provail' (sic) was another

I laughed my socks off I'm afraid and asked when she was going to add 'No surrender'

What's really funny is the length of time it's taking her to clean them off.....

make her write

prevail

100 times

Dd2 wrote 'no you won't' under it

She likes to take her mother's side!

Hmmm ... I'd actually be ok with this. She's using her words to talk about her anger.

I wouldn't laugh at her, I'm afraid

I am ok with it and very proud of actually for being so creative but you really had to be there - it was very funny. Does it help if I explain that the reason she was cross was because I had just declared a moratorium on performances a la Strictly Come dancing. Dd1 and her sister have been rhumbaing their way through my weekends since Christmas - always to the same tunes from the Mamma Mia soundtrack and I couldn't take it any more!

I totally understand finding it funny - but if she didn't mean it to be funny, laughing could really hurt.

(I should probably explain that my anger was always funny to my parents, when I was a kid. )

It sounds nice, having rhumbaing kids - couldn't you ask them to change the soundtrack, if needed?

that is very funny,

I think they need to learn to be laughed at over things such as this, (thou' agree withNQC that if it were something important it is good to let them deal with anger in postive ways)

I know adults that cant take it and people think very lowly of them

Complete sympathy with you on tiring of repeat performances - If I hear "Good Morning BALtimore" from Hairspray belted out by dd1 (9)once more, the DVD is going out of the window.
I would probably have laughed too, and then if she was upset I'd have explained why it was funny ie. you're (probably) not laughing at her as much as with her. Agree though that her being able to express her anger in that way is probably quite healthy - more mature than my DVD throwing urges, anyhow...

Us laughing didn't upset her - more gave her a get out clause tbh. She does take things quite seriously and I value that - but when she's getting het up about something which is just all very silly then I agree with Noonki that sometimes they need to learn to live with other peoples reactions including laughter.

The rhumba is quite nice NQC - just not continually accompanied by Pierce Brosnan's singing.....we tend to have quite a few wardrobe malfunctions as well which adds to the general hilarity tbh.