Feeling like a worn out broken record…
Parenting is a challenge. Whether you have one, two or ten I know there are days when you feel like you are just saying the same things over and over. Disciplining repeatedly for the same actions. To an extent I try to always remember that our two boys are just little boys, one is four and one is two. They are little and simply don’t get sometimes that the result of their repeated actions can hurt one of them or someone else. To another extent I want to pluck my eyelashes out in frustration because it is the same thing every. single. freaking. day. They know our house rules, they “forget” them every day (multiple times a day), and are disciplined for these actions. I am sooooo tired of it. How many times should mommy have to say any of the following:
We don’t run in the kitchen.
We don’t run in the living room.
We don’t run in the playroom.
We don’t throw things. Unless we are playing ball outside, we DO NOT throw things.
Don’t headbutt your brother.
Don’t tackle/wrestle/pin your brother.
Don’t sit on his head.
Get your feet away from his face.
We do not hit anyone. It is not nice and it does not feel good.
We do not stand on the furniture.
We do not jump on the furniture.
We do not stand on the kitchen table.
You do not always get to be first.
Do not shove past your brother.
Why are we screaming in the house?
Everything in the playroom gets shared.
And so on and so on. It’s not as noticeable to me when it’s warm out and we can spend our afternoons outside at a playground or park or the pool or in the backyard…but it has been cold and rainy for the better part of forever now and I am going nuts!
My little one was, up until his second birthday, a mellow and chill guy who just went with the flow for every occasion on any given day. He is now a menopausal drama mama and just seems to act out to get any kind of attention he can. He antagonizes his big brother at every opportunity and instigates most of their little show downs. It is seriously annoying. I don’t feel like my oldest was nearly this challenging, but that is understandable as at two and a half years old his little brother was just 6 months old. My big boy was a sweet and loving little man. He was very patient with mommy while baby nursed, very good with transitions into booster seats at the kitchen table and a big boy bed in his room. He still had a lot of individual attention from mama and daddy because baby bro was not mobile,verbal or truly demanding in any way (dream child!). The behavior changes in both of them with this new-found sibling dynamic has me thanking my gynecologist for the Mirena he inserted just over two years ago!
I will face each new day with a clear mind, putting the previous days’ challenges behind us all. That’s the only sane way. A blank slate and fresh start for all of us. And I will whine and commiserate with my girlfriends when I need to. And I will occasionally say yes to a glass of wine in the evening. And I will feel no guilt about hiring a sitter once in a while simply to pawn off dinner and bedtime on someone else! And I will blog about certain things to amuse and entertain others.
Hoping everyone’s winter is going smoothly. Let’s look forward to the sunshine together!
