Big Siblings Poll
Apr 12, 2017 12:32:09 GMT -5
Post by sdlaura on Apr 12, 2017 12:32:09 GMT -5
wineoclock , this is a common topic of discussion between my close friends and me, since most of us are families with two working parents and multiple small children. And it's one of my biggest internal struggles as a parent. It is so hard to balance how much time to spend working on things that are hard with kids, vs. doing what's easier at the time. Because you might spend forever working on something only to have the kid grow out of whatever it was that was annoying in the first place (like suddenly they decide they like veggies just because someone at school does, or they stop biting just because they can communicate better, or whatever). And I think if I spent all my time working on improving kid behaviors, I wouldn't be able to just have fun with my kids, you know?
For us we have ended up picking different things to work on at different times. Sleep is a big one for us since DH and I both do not function well on less than 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. So from the outset with little kids we were willing to put major effort into getting the kids to sleep well, and it worked. On the food front, it was tough with us both getting home from work at dinner time and having the two kids 17 months apart. So we were relatively lax on what they ate for a while(we were content with focusing on whole, healthy foods rather then trying to get us to all eat the same meal, or having them try new flavors). But recently, now that they are a little older and don't need to eat immediately when we get home everyday before having a meltdown, we have really made a push for better eating habits, and it seems to be working. But it's still slow going and would be way easier to feed them mac and cheese every night.
Anyway, sorry for the stream of consciousness, just thought it was a little bit relevant for the topic I think this is definitely something all parents struggle with, and each kid is different in terms of how much work it takes to change/improve behaviors...
For us we have ended up picking different things to work on at different times. Sleep is a big one for us since DH and I both do not function well on less than 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. So from the outset with little kids we were willing to put major effort into getting the kids to sleep well, and it worked. On the food front, it was tough with us both getting home from work at dinner time and having the two kids 17 months apart. So we were relatively lax on what they ate for a while(we were content with focusing on whole, healthy foods rather then trying to get us to all eat the same meal, or having them try new flavors). But recently, now that they are a little older and don't need to eat immediately when we get home everyday before having a meltdown, we have really made a push for better eating habits, and it seems to be working. But it's still slow going and would be way easier to feed them mac and cheese every night.
Anyway, sorry for the stream of consciousness, just thought it was a little bit relevant for the topic I think this is definitely something all parents struggle with, and each kid is different in terms of how much work it takes to change/improve behaviors...