Chapter 4:
"It's normal, children have no sense of reverence for life, and they don't know how much force to use." I told Zhou Yuan and my mother-in-law about this, and they said the same thing.
"Baby, you can't harm small animals." I relaxed and repeatedly educated my daughter.
My daughter giggled.
Soon, my daughter turned one year old, and her selfish and self-centered nature became evident.
As long as it was her own things, whether it was toys, food, or clothes, no one could take them away.
If anyone tried to take them away, she would cry loudly.
At first, we didn't pay much attention to it.
Whether it was child-rearing experts or people who had children, they all said that children are very selfish when they are young, and this is instinctual.
We should try our best to satisfy their wishes before the age of two, giving them whatever they want to create a sense of security.
If we do not satisfy their wishes, they will develop character defects when they grow up.
In order to do this, our family would cater to the child's every wish.
My husband would always make time to accompany the child after work, providing her with love and care within our capabilities.
When my daughter was over one year old, a friend needed old clothes for her newborn.
I packed up my daughter's clothes and toys and gave them all to my friend.
I didn't hide anything from my daughter when I was packing things up—who would hide things from a one-year-old child? My daughter cried loudly and stumbled over to me, grabbing the toy in my hand.
That toy was clearly not what she wanted.
Thinking that she liked it, I put the toy down and grabbed another one, and she came to snatch it from me.
I would take one and she would snatch one, and if I didn't take one, she would crawl away and play with something else.
Seeing how much she cared about the toys, I went into the house to tidy up the small clothes and put them by the sofa.
When my friend arrived, I handed her the clothes.
"Wow—-" The daughter burst into tears, came over and grabbed the bag, refusing to let her friend take it away.
We had to wait until she wasn't paying attention to take it, but as soon as we took the bag, she cried.
Eventually, she even hugged the bag and put it in her own paradise.
No one could touch it.
The friend had no choice but to leave and get clothes from another friend.
I told my family about this, but my mother-in-law and husband didn't say much, thinking that the child would improve when she gets older, and that we should indulge her until she turns two.
Well, I hope the child will improve as she grows up.
Soon, when she turned two, my daughter became more and more selfish.
During this time, we tried to get her to share, but she refused.
When she played with other children, she didn't want to share her own things and always wanted to take others'.
When my daughter was over two years old, my mother-in-law fed her at home.
At that time, she was eating a banana and holding child chopsticks.
My mother-in-law leaned in and said, "Baby, can I have some of your banana?" Without her daughter's consent, she took a bite of the banana, and my daughter immediately cried out sharply, raising her hand and sticking the child chopsticks into my mother-in-law's eyes! My mother-in-law covered her eyes and screamed in pain.
I was shocked.
This was her grandmother who had taken care of my daughter since she was young! She couldn't even take a bite of a banana! I quickly took my mother-in-law to the hospital, and with the doctor's help, her eyes were saved, but her vision weakened a lot.
My mother-in-law is gentle in character.
She said it was not the baby's fault as she already had a bit of presbyopia.
It was just an accident.
When my husband came back and found out about this, he was furious and wanted to hit our daughter's palms.
My mother-in-law and I stopped him, as we both believed that we shouldn't hit a child, but should guide her.
In order to educate our daughter, we tried to take her things to teach her how to share.
My husband deliberately took her doll and said, "Baby, can you give this toy to daddy?" My daughter screamed and grabbed the doll.
My husband took out a prepared small cake and offered to exchange it, but she still refused.
Later, she got angry and grabbed the doll, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it while yelling.
She would rather destroy it than give it to someone else, even if it was her own father.
In short, no one could take away her things.
As things developed, during meals, if she wanted a particular dish, no one else could touch their chopsticks; if there were fruits brought home and she liked them, no one else could have one.
Otherwise, she would cry and scream, causing the whole building to shake.
Regardless of the methods we used as parenting experts, she refused to share and was extremely selfish.
Not only selfish, but also lacking empathy.
My husband, mother-in-law, and I are her closest people, always fulfilling her requests, but we still couldn't take anything from her.
When I was sick and told her not to cry or make noise because mommy needed rest, she never cared about the adults and continued to make a fuss.
Perhaps it was because she was too young and didn't understand.
But after turning three or four years old, she was still like this, never considering the feelings of adults and showing no concern at all.
I am her own mother.
When she plays with other children, she often hits them because she loves taking away their things.
If she can't take them, she rolls on the ground and throws tantrums.
I have never taught her to do this, but she learned it on her own.
While other parents worry about their children being bullied, I worry every day that my own child will bully others.
Because she often bullies other children, no matter how much we try to teach her, she doesn't listen.
My mother-in-law and I had to compromise and agree to use force.
After she hit another child and got reported, I got angry and grabbed her little hand to spank her, telling her not to bully others or else she would be punished.
She started wailing and throwing a tantrum on the ground, while my mother-in-law and I coldly ignored her.
She continued rolling around and crying loudly, and I couldn't bear it anymore.
I grabbed her hand and lightly spanked her twice, and I lectured her, "You are almost four years old, don't bully others and stop crying all the time." My daughter struggled fiercely and screamed, and when I let go of her hand, she ran to the coffee table and picked up a fruit knife, attempting to stab me.
"I'll kill you! Kill you!" she yelled while randomly swinging the knife.
I was shocked at that moment.
Luckily, she was too young to exert much force, and I instinctively used my hand to block.
I ended up with a cut on the back of my hand, bleeding profusely.
My mother-in-law quickly snatched the knife away and carried her away from me.
She continued screaming and crying in my mother-in-law's arms, threatening to kill me.
After this incident, we dared not keep any sharp objects in the living room.
The image of my daughter yelling "kill you" while wielding a knife left me with a psychological trauma, so I went online to seek advice.
Everyone said it was a curse-sensitive period - during the growth process of children aged three to six, they learn some foul language and bad words, which they may use inappropriately but will eventually disappear as they grow up.
My daughter had never used foul language or cursed me before; this was the first time.
I thought maybe I was overly sensitive.