Processing

So I guess this is a sequel to my last post. After sitting down and talking with her, well, as much as you can with a 4 year old and letting her sit in her room for awhile I spent some time with her making cards. She seemed ok, very chatty and perky. After awhile she floated into the living room and noticed another little gift her daddy had given to me last night. (he is giving me gifts to help de-stress me!) There is a little plant sitting in front of the window. I could tell she was bothered by this so I sat and watched her for a minuet. She then looked at me and told me "a cow was going to come and eat my new plant today!" Oh boy!! I could see that she was still feeling aggressive so I calmly told her that if she felt bad by the plant daddy gave me it was ok and safe to talk to me about it. Not 2 minutes later she came up to me and told me that she felt bad and left out b/c daddy didn't give her a gift to. I told her that it was normal to feel bad and jealous when someone gets something we don't. It happens. I told her that I understood that feeling. I told her I wanted her to do something for me. I wanted her to look around and see if she could find anything her daddy and given her. She did, and as she did she started getting all excited. I then asked her why daddy got those things for her. She said it was b/c he loves her. Yep! He sure does! I told her next time she starts to feel bad and starts to feel jealous to start thinking about all the things she has and what that means to her. And of course to come and talk with me about it. I'm hoping this will help her. She is only 4 so who knows how much she is able to really process, but kids really are pretty smart! Sheesh, parenting sure is tough!! And I've just started!!!