Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Since I'm on a Roll ;)

with the complaining about talking and the complaining about everything else ;)

My biggest pet peeve ever. My husband. His calling me constantly from work. It's not so bad that he calls me all the time (OK, yes it is soooo annoying!!!) but it's that he actually expects me to give him my undivided attention.

What about taking care of three children ages 4 and under leads him to believe I can give anyone my undivided attention??

When I talk to my mom on the phone it goes like this
Ok, so I'm making...GET DOWN FROM THERE!...cheesy potatoes again and...I SAID GET DOWN NOW!! NO YOU CAN'T HAVE OREOS RIGHT NOW...I know I call every time, I can't ever remember how much...LEAVE YOUR SISTER ALONE!!...sour cream to put in...
And it seems that I'm always holding the baby and have Little Man on the potty needing a wipe, as the dogs are barking madly at a big truck that just went by...

Whenever anything else is going on when I'm on the phone with the huz, it ticks him off. And I just don't understand how he can't understand that I have to take care of what's going on when it's going on!!

The stupid thing is that he calls all the time and wants to talk for a half an hour and has got nothing to say. It's so aggravating! I wish he had a job that occupied all his time.

The other day, he was filling me in on all the drama that's been going on at work, so I had to listen and respond attentively... so I leave the kids in the living room (the 2 and 4 year old pushing each other off a stool and the baby having a screaming fit in the playpen)...2 minutes later Baby Sister fell onto the stool nose first. Of course I had to let him go, and he was pissed. WTF?? If I didn't go take care of her what would he have said? What does he expect?

Sometimes I wonder if men have any brains at all ;)

Monday, February 22, 2010

Since I'm on a complaining streak...

Sass mouth strikes again.

OK, so not so much striking again as has gotten progressively worse.

Tweenie (who will be teenie in less than 2 months!) has even started sassing Dad!

I know, it's part of being an almost teenager. But man it's frustrating and irritating! Every single thing I say to her warrants back-talk. And again, another issue I just don't know what to do about. Seriously, I feel like such an idiot. I had all the answers before I became a parent.

I've been searching online and haven't found anything worthwhile... nothing that I think will be effective.

I've tried sending her to her room. I've tried taking away privileges. I've tried ignoring it. I've threatened "Look, if you want to go do ___ next weekend, you better stop with the backtalk." I've also talked to her about it repeatedly. I ask her if she talks to her teachers that way - of course she doesn't. I've explained to her that the more she backtalks the angrier she makes me and the less likely she is to get what she wants.

I have absolutely felt like slapping her across the face. My mom, as well as my husband's mom would have done such at the first instance. But I've never laid a hand on her in that way, and I just won't. And I hate to admit it, but part of the reason is because she is adopted.

Regardless, I need some effective ways to deal with sass and backtalk before it gets out of control. And before it spreads to the 4 and under crowd...

I'm tempted to just start sending her to her room at each and every instance. But that seems a little too much...

Any ideas?

Friday, February 19, 2010

Once More, With Talking!

Little Man is about literally talking me to death. He is a nonstop talker!! His mouth is moving before his feet hit the floor in the morning, talks himself to sleep at night AND talks IN his sleep...

It's just amazing how exhausting the talking is. Most days I feel harassed to death by 8am. He is so nonstop that I'm unable to even think. I totally get the "can't even hear myself think" bit now.

I do have patience for about the first hour of his nonstop talking... but then I lose my patience. And then I go beyond losing my patience and have to just walk away and try as hard as I can to ignore it. I've tried just about everything. I go along with him for a while, I ignore him for a while, I threaten him for a while.... I give time outs, I ask him nicely to be quiet for a while "But I am being quiet mom. I'm not talking anymore. See I'm being quiet." I demand that he be quiet for a while... by 4pm I'm yelling. And around that time is when my husband and tweenie get home. By then I've lost all patience and just want some silence.

I have tried giving him things to do to occupy his time. Coloring books, construction paper, reading books, leapfrog tag books, pre-k worksheets, puzzles, games... his favorite DVDs...all to no avail. He remains a constant running status updater. If he was on facebook you'd start hiding his updates after about 30mins ;)

Of course not all of it is non-productive. He's at the point now where he's wanting to know how to spell everything, and we have nice discussions about topics such as opposites and whatnot... so I absolutely cherish those conversations. But the rest of it? I feel so badgered. And I just have no idea how to handle it.

My kids are totally cabin fever crazy right now. They are bored to death and ready to go running. Fortunately we got a decent used minivan with our tax refund, so now I have a little freedom and we aren't stuck at home! I took the kids to a playgroup yesterday and they had a blast. But sadly, Little Man was still coming over to me about every minute to let me know exactly what he was doing. "I'm throwing the ball now, I'm running with the ball now." etc.

Any suggestions for relief?? Do you have a nonstop talker? How do you handle it? Please tell me they outgrew it! ;)

Thursday, February 4, 2010

The Clown Car

When you have a bunch of kids, sometimes you are reminded of the clown car. Although, most likely you remind other people of the clown car... especially when loading all your kids into/onto a grocery cart in the parking lot... or packing all your kids and groceries into the car like a can of sardines ;)

The other morning I was reminded of a clown car when everyone climbed into our bed.

We co-slept with Little Man and Baby Sister until last summer. Little Man was almost 4 and Baby sister was almost 2. There was just no way we would all fit with an additional baby. It was a tight squeeze with a king size bed and two toddlers! Someone was always kicking someone or hogging the blankets... So at the beginning of the summer we drug out the toddler beds and put them in the "2nd living room" right off of our bedroom. (Sadly we have to keep the 2 back bedrooms closed off in the winter until we get new windows and floors and get the rooms better insulated - we just can't afford to heat them. I'm determined to do something about that this summer!).

Baby Sister took to the new sleeping arrangement like an old pro. She slept in her new bed all night. And will only come into our bed if she's sick.

Little Man, on the other hand, took at least 2 weeks to quit coming into our bed in the middle of the night. Each night he lasted a little longer, until he wasn't coming in until 6-6:30am. And he's still kind of at that point.

It's not too bad most of the time. Usually he just slips into bed and cuddles up and goes back to sleep until it's time to get up. But there are days where he climbs into bed and starts talking...and talking...and talking...

And then there are days when he wakes Baby Sister up on the way to our bed. He climbs in on the side with me and Lazy Baby, and then Baby Sister comes in towing at least one, if not 2 or 3 of her baby dolls and climbs up into the middle... The other morning, our bed contained: Mom, Dad, Little Man, Lazy Baby, Baby Sister and 3 nappy head Dora dolls. Two of which are clickity-clackity mermaids and one is a noisy eye-fluttery sleepytime Dora.

By the time her Dori are situated, there's no room for any movement without injury. And that's Lazy Baby's cue for immediate nursing required. I have to carefully maneuver slightly this way and that until we have the right position...which causes everyone else to have to shift... ;) That's when you just have to call it quits and get up! :) Yes, even if it is a weekend.
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