So, what do you do with a nine year old who drives you absolutely batty? One who seemingly doesn't care what the consequences of her actions are...she just does whatever she wants to do? What do you do when you're at your wits end and you honestly just want to lock yourself in a closet so you don't have to get her on case once again...over and over again...constantly, without end...about whatever it is she's done that has made you angry this time? Seriously...I want to know. What do you do?

I love my daughter. She is one of the six best things that have happened to my life. She drives me crazy. Not the good "Haha, I'll laugh about this later," kind of crazy. The "Where did I go wrong and am I a horrible mom?" kind of crazy. Do you want to know what she said to me today? Or rather SCREAMED at me? "STOP F*$&%ING YELLING AT ME!!!" Yes, that came out of my darling nine year old's mouth. Maybe she is right. Maybe I need to calm down, take a step back and find another way to communicate with her. It's not that I haven't tried. It's that thus far, nothing has worked. So, I resort to yelling, which I HATE doing. Honestly, there are only two people in this world that I yell at...Caitlin and Drake. Go figure...they're pretty much the same person. It takes a LOT to get me to raise my voice. It seems to be an everyday thing with Caitlin though.

So, what am I to do? I've decided to honor her request. I'm going to stop yelling. On top of this, I'm going to spend more time with her. Maybe she's just acting this way because she wants attention. It can't be easy being the eldest of six. Maybe she feels unappreciated. Maybe she feels lost in a sea of kids. Maybe...I don't know. All I know is that I just can't handle much more of this. I hate that not a single day goes by that she's just happy all day. Something needs to change. I just don't know what it is.