Fire Vs. Water

I'm a Sagittarius and my eldest daughter is a Pisces. Given how drastic the difference is there, astrologically speaking, I think I've done rather well over her six years. I try to remember to be ever gentle in my tone, and she has taught me a lot in regards to patience and the like.

She's a well behaved child, don't get me wrong. But, she's still a child and, as such, is prone to doing things that might get under my skin (like literally put her face about 1/2 an inch in front of mine while she's talking to me, or having her moments when listening just isn't in the cards).

The little Virgo (my second daughter) and I tend to clash more often. But, my precious Pisces is far more sensitive in certain areas. So, I have to watch my tone with her more.

I was fortunate to have a number of close Pisces friends, prior to having my eldest daughter. With that experience, I was able to get some real life experience regarding exactly how our fire vs. water natures were most likely to clash.

Just last night though, I was reminded just how sensitive my little one can be.

I was sitting at the computer, sifting through email, when she came into the office. At first, she was merely playing in the room, but this escalated to her getting less than an inch away from my face, poking my shoulder, breathing heavily at me, and talking loudly.

I asked her to stop, multiple times, remembering to be gentle about it. But, enough was enough. I yelled her name. I got her attention, her face just about lost it's color when mommy's voice became that loud. And, I told her to stop what she was doing.

Almost immediately, simply because I yelled, she started to weep sadly. She then ran into the living room, slumped onto the couch, and continued to cry in the kind of way that just rips your heart out.

*Sigh*

Alas, it appears I still have work to do on softening my tone, somehow, when I'm dealing with her misbehaving. Yes, she needed to know that what she was doing was not okay. But, there has to be a way to do that, even with a sensitive child who can't stand knowing she's in trouble, without hearing that heart-wrenching weeping.

It's very interesting to me, the way our personalities clash, get along, or otherwise interact, particularly when it comes to the ones who are dearest to our hearts - our children.