and now for a bit about motherhood

I want to start of by saying that I really enjoy being a mom. It has it's challenges, but they generally are outweighed by the really good stuff. But here's the current struggle:

You would think that little j is 13 years old lately. She is obstinate, crying, often frustrated, and, at times, completely unreasonable. And to top it off she is definitely daddy's girl. Now being daddy's girl I don't mind so much. But I lately I am just so frustrated because every little thing that goes wrong ends up in tears and crying for daddy. When we show any sort of disapproval she wants daddy. Even though Big J has been as much of a disciplinarian as I have lately, I'm the bad guy. No matter who "makes her cry" she wants daddy.

And lately little j has come up with the craziest things. She told Big J that he was "meaner than a monster" and told me that she didn't "want to live in this house anymore." At times like that it's hard not to laugh and it's definitely hard to reason with the logic of an almost 5-year old.

Is it too much to ask to have a smiling happy child? Is it something that we're doing? Are we unreasonable? I mean, I did make her drink 1/4 cup of milk at dinner. Apparently it was equivalent to sending her to the dungeon for life. And Big J didn't give her enough popcorn for a snack, which we can obviously compare to, say, burning at the stake. Holy crap!