Stumped

It was one of those weekends when the calendar was full of activities -- birthday party for one of Grace's best friends, swim team practice, play date, cookie booth, and of course, more play dates.  Somewhere in there, we wanted to get some laundry and cleaning done.  Honestly, a fairly typical weekend for us lately.  Luckily, we have made a new set of friends with all of Grace's social activities so we at least feel like we are also getting adult time. Even Will has a buddy to hang with.

Problems arise when there are multiple families and multiple little girls all wanted to play together at the same time.  Girl drama starts so young. 

This weekend the issue started in a loud restaurant with whispering.  Completely innocent whispering between two girls who simply couldn't hear each other because the rest of the place was loud.   Which led to feelings being hurt and tears and meltdowns.  Leaving a restaurant right as the waiter is bringing your nice full cold beer to the table totally sucks.

I wasn't mad that Grace was upset about whispering -- and that she was sad that she thought she was being left out. I get it -- that feeling sucks at 8 years old and it still sucks at 32 years old.  It was the reaction that was unacceptable.  The crying and screaming and complete and total meltdown at the restaurant and all the way to her bed.

She knows how to behave; she can tell you exactly why her behavior choice was wrong  She knows it in the middle of the fit but just cannot handle the range of emotions.  She has trouble calming down.  Is it just a stage that we need to parent through?  Or is it something different -- is she needing some sort of therapy to help her through it? 

Typing all this out on my blog -- I don't want to air all Grace's issues on the web either. But honestly, sometimes typing the posts helps me think through things.  And in times like this, I am hoping that someone who stops by and reads will have some advice or encouraging words or some experience with this. Cause I am at a loss.