Girl, Interrupted

What do I do with Sophie? She seems to be going through a crisis of some sort right now. She is too young for a midlife crisis. She is too young for a mid-childhood crisis. But something is definitely going on. Unfortunately, I have no idea what is causing the problem, so I feel very helpless to help her.

Sophie has been 100% potty trained for a while. On her 3rd birthday way back in June, she decided it was time to pee on the potty and she managed to do it with minimal accidents...she hasn't looked back since. She was a peeing rock star! We haven't had accidents in ages. However, in the past week and a half, she has had an accident almost every day. One day last week, she peed in her pants FOUR times....in one day! I am not sure what has caused this resurgence of urinary faux pas. It's very weird.

In addition to her sudden pottying issues, Sophie has become very clingy lately. She does not want to leave my side. We go to an ECFE (Early Child & Family Education) class on Thursday nights. For the first hour, the parents stay with the kids. For the second hour, the parents go into a conference room next door to discuss parenting issues and the kids stay with a preschool teacher. We have been attending this class for months and months. Sophie LOVES it. They paint, read stories, play...she loves it. However, about two weeks ago she started crying when I leave the room. Not just a few tears either. She works herself up to a full-blown hysteria. Screaming. Crying huge crocodile tears. No amount of soothing helps. It's very odd. She has been doing this when I leave her with anyone lately...including her totally adoring grandmother. It's all very strange. She's always been shy around strangers. But her grandmother isn't exactly a stranger!

She has also had trouble sleeping lately. She cries at bedtime that she doesn't want to be alone. I have been laying in her bed with her until she falls asleep....a very bad habit to start. Of course, the boys have caught onto this and now want me to lay in bed with them too. Bedtime has stretched to a routine that takes HOURS now. As a result, I am missing all of my favorite TV shows and losing out on precious quiet mommy alone time! Damn preschooler angst! :) In addition to trouble going to sleep, Sophie is having trouble staying asleep. At some point in the middle of the night, Sophie will usually wake up and get in my bed. She's never done this before...but for a few weeks now, she has been in my bed almost every night. This part of the equation drives me to the edge of sanity because the child is a thrashing, kicking, punching monster in bed. She is the most active sleeper I have ever had the joy of sleeping with. Honestly, I would rather sleep with a chimpanzee on heroin than with Sophie. I love the child dearly, but waking up with bruises is not my idea of a good time.

I don't know what's going on with her, but obviously something has happened to change her behavior. I feel so bad for her....my poor baby is struggling. I assume it is a "phase." I know nothing "bad" has happened to her because she is with Ruanita or I 24/7. She does not leave our sight. So....I don't know. I'm going to call it a phase and hope she gets over it soon. She HAS to get over it soon...right? The smell of urine lingers in a way that few smells do. Her grandmother is my babysitting saviour, so she HAS to get over that one. And sleep deprivation is not pretty....at least it's not pretty on me. So I hope she is able to work out her inner turmoil quickly and we can all get back to some semblance of normalcy....I hope. At least until the next crisis comes along......