Neglect & Snake Bites

My little girl, Taylor, is nothing less than a drama queen!  She seems to think that everything is an EMERGENCY!  Lately, I have had some home projects going on and if anyone has ever tried to do a project of any size with a 3 year old "helping", you would know that it is nearly impossible!  I was outside painting the lower deck, I set her up with toys and books on the upper deck.  Of course, she would rather help me paint!

Every once in a while she would scream, "bug!!!!!"  or " I needa go potty NOW!!!"  or "uh-oh, my toy penguin needs his fur brushed!!!"  Anyways, on and on, her requests keep coming!!  ARGH!!  I am down to the last few boards and she starts freaking out because she got some paint on her arm....YES, eventually I couldn't take the begging and handed her a roller with paint on it and put her to work! lol!  But, when she starts thinking the reddish-brown paint is blood on her arm, she panics...really?  That's it!!  Get in the house, watch TV, and I'll be in in a bit!!! ARGH again!  Within the next few minutes, she comes out and shows me her finger, declaring that she has a tiny snake bite, I say, "oh, okay, well I'm glad you survived the bite, you'll be alright."  she comes and tells me the same thing like 20 times, begging for a band aid (which she loves to peel open, stick on, rip off, and throw in the trash), I repeat the "oh, you're fine"  over and over.    A couple hours later, while I'm making dinner, she starts in about the little snake that is attacking her finger, and how she needs a band aid really bad, so I direct her to her Daddy.  (why do children forget there is another parent to torture?!?!?)  I hear Billy say, "oh that's just some paint still in the crease of your finger, you don't need a band aid". 

The next morning, while fixing breakfast, she shows me her little finger and says- you guessed it, "Mommy, I really need a band aid to fix this ouchie"  I just stop what I'm doing, literally run to the bathroom, dig out a band aid, hand it to her, head back to the kitchen to continue my morning....but then I see her struggling to get it positioned right, I finally offer her my help to get it put right on her "snake bite" and notice a huge piece of wood...aka splinter stuck in her finger right at the base by the palm of her hand, in the crease!!!  It is so big that it goes all the way across the width of her finger and even sticks out into the next finger, both are red and irritated!! (and in her defense, it was brown, long, skinny, and hurting her- just like a tiny snake in her finger!) I just pulled it out, and then cried with her.  I held her so tight and apologized repeatedly...

Drama Queen, or not...I will not let the dishes, the painting, the dinner, the housework, come before doctoring my "snake bit" little girl.  I feel like reading her the book about the little boy who cried wolf!  I need to pay more attention to what she tells me...  lesson learned!