YOU FORGOT!!!

Sometimes people forget.

"Lyna's nearly two years old; she's exactly 21 months old!"  -try to remember this

This past weekend we've encountered relatives during our annual Chinese New Years celebration, my grandma just visited with us, my mom came home from Molokai, and all of my siblings were together as we prepared for the Great Aloha Run.

Through these events I've encountered memorable moments and I've also been encountering instances where people close to me have been unknowingly putting down my daughter Lyna.

My grandma, who stayed with us, encountered a moment where Lyna was eating and she sporadically threw a piece of her banana onto the ground.  My grandma said, "Huh, you NAUGHTY.  You NAUGHTY girl.  You know what naughty means?  Oh you NAUGHTY!" 

 Earlier Lyna was lying on the bed with my dad, she was playing with her toy trains, and out of no where she threw her train on her ground.  Lyna threw another train, my dad yelled "Hey, Stop that!"  Lyna was about to throw another toy when my dad picked up the whole container of her trains and threw it on the ground, Lyna cried, and my dad said, "get out, get out I don't want any spoiled brats in here!"  

During the GAR my sister picked Lyna up, held her tight, and demanded Lyna to give her a kiss.   Lyna screamed "NO!" And my sister in a joking voice said "give me a kiss now, I'm not gonna let you go!"  Lyna continued to scream "mommy, mommy!!" While trying to get out of my sisters arms.

I love my family so much, but in all these instances Lyna was being put down and scolded by the very people who say they love her the most.  Now, she doesn't encounter these issues constantly, but she does go through these issues, with and sometimes without me.

As her mother, and as her main parent, I have to stand up for her.  I know that these family members and relatives are older then me, and I was taught to not speak back to my elders, but I am my daughters voice.  Lyna doesn't know any better she's only 21 months old.  Months, not even 2 years old yet.   

My family, relatives, and those closest to Lyna FORGOT!!  

They Forgot...

She hasn't been on this earth for two years yet.  

Yes, she talks, she walks, she express her wants and needs, she cries, she throws fits, she yells, she screams, she hugs, she loves, but SHE IS STILL NEW TO THIS EARTH.  

She is still learning, 

she is still discovering,

she is still figuring out what is the meaning of things

she is still trying to understand

she is still exploring, 

she's still figuring out what she doesn't like, 

there are a "bajillion" more possibilities that she will encounter in the upcoming seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years of her life.

She only came out of my stomach 21 months ago.  Though she has accumulated much knowledge within the 21 months she has been on this earth, she still has to gain a "bizillion" more understandings of the world around her.  

Lyna knows many things, and I am very proud of her, but she is still trying to understand the world around her.  

I know that you (readers) will encounter instances, or have encountered instances like mines, whether it's exactly similar or you can relate,

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE 

Remember that you are your child's voice.  Your child is so new to this world that they truly don't know any better then you may think.  You need to advocate for your child. 

Don't let your child, your own flesh and blood, your prized jewls, your brightly shined diamonds, undergo 
beating, 

torment, 

humiliation, 

pain, 

stress, 

or abuse in any form.  

Lyna was not physically abused, but she was scolded, humiliated, frustrated, and she was stressed out from the verbal yelling that was directed at her.  

Now, I don't have the exact answer as to how you should guide your child through misbehaviors and unwanted situations, but I would suggest to not FORGET! 

Love your precocious child even through the hard times, love your child  through the most stressful time of the day, hug and kiss your child even when they and you may not want to, and tell your child "I LOVE YOU!"

Updated:  Thursday, February 20, 2014

By -->  Jadelynn Davis Mapuhi