"Ms. Jenkins, I hate that baby."

Sometimes, it's really difficult to know if a child is being absolutely transparent or perfectly manipulative.

One of my students had a hard time focusing today-- she was off task, (loudly) playful, and disrespectful on several occasions. This isn't entirely unusual for her. She also struggles with her work, and becomes frustrated easily. The academic frustration, paired with adolescence, can become a behavior issue.

But at the end of the day, she walked over to my desk and announced, "Ms. Jenkins, I hate that baby." She then proceeded to tell me all about her new baby brother. She told me about how he cries all the time, and about how she has given him the nickname "Stinky Poo Butt" because his poos so much. She told me about how he keeps her awake at night, and how her mom just wants to sleep all of the time. She told me about how she can't go anywhere because she has to help take care of the baby, since her mom runs her own business. She told me about sleeping at her Aunt's house, which is overcrowded, because it's the only place where she can actually GET sleep. She also explained to me that none of her other relatives live in South Philly, although if you'd like to know where they DO live- I got that information, too.

It was clearly the cry of an adolescent only-child-turned-big-sister wanting (needing?) some adult attention. But as she wrapped up her complaint session, she told me, "But I don't like it when other people touch him. Only I can hold him," and gave me a list of people she no longer likes because they tried to touch or hold her baby brother. She complains about "the baby," but she secretly loves him.

It's easy to laugh and say, "Oh, kids . . ." but I think I'm just as inconsistent; the people I love the most are also the people that drive me craziest. And at the end of the day, I think we'd all like a little extra attention.