It's official....

The honeymoon is over.  After my last post my friend, Ellen, asked if it was possible that our honeymoon was over.  I really didn't think so.  We never had a honeymoon with Oksana so I didn't even know what a honeymoon looked like.  Now I can easily say it is over.  When Anya first came home our house was locked up better than a high security prison!  Through the first month she showed me that she could be trusted with a little less security.  We got lax about keeping doors closed that had child proofed door handles on them.  We  got a little more comfortable keeping the gate to the basement open and allowed her the freedom to go up or down to play as she pleased.  We trusted her to be in a room without adult supervision (always in ear shot though) without fearing that she would destroy anything or hurt a sibling.  Now....

WE ARE BACK ON LOCK DOWN.

Anya has lost almost every privilege we gave her and we are back to square one.  The honeymoon is over.  She can not be trusted for 5 seconds alone.  She has taken to smacking Oksana across the face, throwing things at her brothers and hitting them, finding every single possible thing she could do to get in trouble, etc.  At first I thought I just wasn't entertaining her enough.  I've used a lot of your suggestions and it is getting worse instead of better so we are on a high level of restrictions until she can learn what her boundaries are here a little better.  This morning was a good example.  She has cups with lids but they are not spill proof.  I have let her have free access to her drinks with  no problem until recently.  Now she will find a spot to sit and dump the water all over herself, so she has lost the ability to have control of her drink.  Then when Evan let her in his room for just a moment and then told her not to do something she bit him.  We are in a ZERO TOLERANCE mode on her behaviors because when we let some of them slide just a little, because we thought she could handle it, they came out with a vengeance.  This is how we have had to handle Oksana's behaviors too.  She is what we call a "given an inch, take a marathon" kid.  Of course we wanted to give Anya a chance to show us if she really needed that level of firm discipline as well and she has proven to us that she does. 

This makes my day a lot harder but that is OK with me because first of all, I know that the hard work I put in now will make my life easier later.  Also, I know that she will be in school next year so I just need to make it through homeschooling this year and do the best I can with what I have.  It also helps that I have talked to a couple of friends who have kiddos just like her.  They both encouraged me that this will get better.  They have confirmed that what I am doing is on the right path, given me some other tips, and encouraged me to stay consistent.  So now I can start praying that relief comes sooner rather than later!