Yeah, Emma can be a nightmare these days. My mom always told me that if we wanted another I needed to have it before Emma turned three or I would change my mind about having more. She was absolutely right. I don't ever want to do three again.
Ingrid is a piece of work threenager and Eli has the delightful combo of molar teething and newly discovered powers of manipulation. I don't remember Ingrid being such an asshole at 18 months, but I was 8 months pregnant at the time, so I was probably too preoccupied with being so very over being pregnant and hating lyfe in general that I didn't notice.
We had a really great afternoon/evening planned for Saturday: Disney on Ice followed by dinner out. Well the kids were actually really great for most of the show, but then Eli started to melt down into a psychopath for the last 20 minutes or so, and then as soon as the show was over Ingrid started demanding ice cream and didn't stop on the entire 10 min walk to the restaurant. Neither of them could manage their shit until the food arrived. And then Eli ended his meal covered in milk. My H and I didn't even speak to either of them or each other on the way home from our lovely outing.
That's why we never go out anymore. We will take P out from about 9-12 but if we go much later than that then it is a disaster that we are recovering from all afternoon. We can sometimes go out at night but we better be home by about 7 or the whole night is a mess with multiple wakeups. It's just not worth it right now. The good thing is that he is usually very well behaved while out, it's just at home that he is a nightmare.
You are not alone. I had just about enough so I started looking for parenting books. Currently listening to the audio book for Screamfree Parenting and my key takeaway so far is that I can't control the way my child reacts to something but "I" can change the way I react. So keeping my cool and staying calm even when my child isn't. Which I find really hard right now (especially calming my anxieties) but I've decided to stick through it because frankly I'm out of ideas! Next on my list is Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids, which is along the same lines I think. It's not a quick fix but changing just my attitude about things has made an improvement.
Also recently saw a tip about toys at stores: If they want a toy, take a pic of them with it to "send to santa". We tried it the other day and managed to leave the store without toys or tantrums. (now let's hope they don't expect Santa to bring them all the toys)
laurski81 that has definitely happened to me more than once. And I always feel like an asshole because it usually is accompanied by me yelling as well. I found the best thing is for me to shut the door and leave him in there until he calms down. It can take a good 20 min, but it also helps me calm down too.
I've definitely done this before. I stand by the door and take a deep breath or 10. sometimes I open it when she's still crying because she freaks out that I'm locking her in. Or other times I have to open the door to yell at her again because she's climbing into the front seat... so it doesn't always work for us.
Joey has started licking my face sometimes when she thinks she's being cute, but knows she's being annoying. It's gross.
She can also be a devil and half the time I stand there taking a deep breath trying not to flip my shit on her... reminding myself to be patient, even if I've got none left.
Last night I literally looked at H at one point, when she was just acting ridiculous and I asked her 4x to do something, and said "I swear I talk but she can't hear my voice or something... am I invisible right now? Because apparently I'm not here. I'm so over this." and I walked out of her room.
That's when she finally started crying "no mommy, come back!" So H told her to finish putting on her PJ's and go apologize to me for not listening. She did come give me a hug and asked to go read books then, but she didn't apologize.
It's a challenge. Sometimes Zoe is a sweet little kid that I love being around. Other times, she's a little monster. I've struggled a lot with her running away from me when I pick her up from daycare and when we do get in the car, she won't sit her bum in her car seat so that I can strap her in. It's not easy for me to physically overpower her anymore because I'm 7.5 months pregnant and I'm worried about her kicking me in the stomach or something.
I've been trying some punishments such as taking away her favourite toys for one day when she is bad - but I don't know if it works that well at her age. She asked me what it means to be good and I told her that she has to listen to mommy and daddy. She responded by saying, "I can't remember that!" Sigh!
Post by aimeefarrahfowler on Oct 7, 2015 10:19:27 GMT -5
Yesterday I had the day off for A's class field trip to the pumpkin patch/fall fair and ended up carrying him back to the car screaming when it was time to go, and then T locked me out of the car at the grocery store. Really just an awesome day. So no, you are not alone at all.
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