I have a mischievous five year old. She's sweet and 99% of what she does is creative in her mind. She makes heaps of mess with paper and pipe cleaners and bags full of random things. She's always sticking huge globs of playdoh to pegs and stuff and then just plonks it down. She just won't learn to pick up pens etc. I've tired lots of tricks. When she started school she got really good. But now she's going through lockdown it's like she's gone back to being a toddler. She has been mostly a joy to have home. But today she did something really annoying and bad. I can't understand why she did it. I'm almost embarrassed to write it.
My partner was upstairs in the bath with the door open. Our home isn't big so the bathroom doors two and half meters from where they were playing. The kids were safely playing in my 2 year olds room. I popped outside to peg out towels. The baby gate to the stairs was shut. I came back in to go upstairs to them 5-6 minutes later.
I walked through my living room to see my makeup and creams all dropping from the upstairs window. I went into full panic. Even though the side windows locked I presumed my toddler was in the top window hanging out or the side window wasn't locked after all. I yelled to my partner i think something bad was going to happen. I was thinking how I could get to the window and stop him tumbling out. Only for him to walk to the baby gate and say hi mummy. (I was so relieved)
I went to my bedroom and realised he can't get anywhere near the window. Nothing to climb on. Too high up. Phew. Side windows shut.
But my five and half year old who should know better!!! Had thrown all my stuff outside into the garden. I yelled at her about safety. Teaching her brother to do silly things. Going in my bedroom etc. Then I went downstairs into the garden.
She had smashed 2 bottles of full Estée Lauder foundation from my birthday. It was a rare treat with my money. . Cracked my face cream. Pulled the lid of my lipstick and squashed it. She did this in seconds without making a noise. She must have used the radiator to get a leg up to drop it out the top window. She can't fall out of this window either. It's too small.
But tonight I'm still upset. My mood feels awful. I can't get that feeling out my head of my son being ready to fall to his death. I can't get over how silly she has behaved. What an earth made her do such a silly thing? It's a really out of character thing. She pinches my lipstick sometimes. I tell her not to do it and I got her a lipbalm. Since then it's stopped.
I feel like an awful parent. My partner was meters away. They were safe. Our bedroom is safe apart from the makeup box under the bed! Nowhere high to put it. She can reach my drawers
As a punishment ive removed her tablet. No tele today since and I took one of her current favourite dolls and put it away. That made her really sad. I explained to her that's how sad she has made mummy. I said you can have your doll back if you behave all afternoon but I can't have my things back. I made her stay in her room for half an hour too.
I feel I've handled it the best i can.she needed a harsher punishment as she should no better. But I feel rotten that I had to tell her off like this.
Would you have done the same?