hey Cassmo451! this is what this board is for - and if you've had a hard week, i'm glad you found a place and the time to let some stuff out. it's hard to talk to people about our kids in the real world - and that's what brings us all here. smile

my DD (now 5) used to rub the silky tags on all her shirts whenever she was feeling difficult emotions - your story about the "ears" reminded me a little of that. like you, i worried a little that it might be a coping strategy we'd have to replace down the line, but in the end she took charge of it herself. i had at one point talked to her about starting to clip the tags on any new items, but then i kept forgetting to do it. then one day a few months ago, i found her sitting on her bed amidst a neat little pile of tags with the nail scissors in her hand - she'd done the lot.

when i asked why she'd decided to clip the tags, my quirky little bean told me that she felt it was time to "put away childish things." the funny thing is, i'm not sure where she even picked up that particular allusion!


Every Sunday it brooded and lay on the floor. Inconveniently close to the drawing-room door.