The children, they are beating me down.
I am realizing the $350 we spent to send M to preschool 5 days a week was the most important thing we have ever done for my sanity. She is on summer break now and I am exhausted.
Apparently, since M is not in school, she needs to get her socializing/talking out anyway. Since I am the only person around, I am the lucky one who gets to listen to 9 hours of a 5 year-old’s stream-of-consciousness each day. OMG, is she never silent? Is there not ONE SINGLE THOUGHT she can keep to herself?
Apparently, the answer is no. There is not.
Who knew she was thinking so many things? So many incredibly BORING and REPETITIVE things!
And L, my darling baby two year old, has decided that now is the time to fight to the death for every single whim that enters her pretty little head. If it occurs to her that XYZ might be a good idea, she must have XYZ. NOW. NO, she really means it NOW! NOW! NOW! And god forbid I should try to tell her no. Or ask her to wait for a few minutes. Oh, she will rain down her wrath on anyone who even dares to suggest she shouldn’t have what she wants when she wants it. The flailing and screaming and crying is rarely worth the effort. Do I really care that much if she eats an extra snack? No, it turns out I don’t care enough. I just give it to her. I am wondering if this kind of behavior with tired parents is why my little sister got away murder.
And just when you think I might get a break at bedtime, then the real joy of summer strikes. They don’t sleep if it isn’t dark. Even with blackout curtains. The big one stays up until well after 9:00 pm wiggling and thumping around in her bed. The little one wakes up at 5:00 a.m. and then again at 6:00 a.m.. She can not be convinced to go back to sleep.
I am scheduling as many playdates and activities as I can stand. I am making them play and swim to wear them out so they will sleep well. I am clinging to my sanity by the skin of my teeth. And counting down the days until school starts.
i used to get annoyed when i’d see a parent ignore a kid who was trying to talk to them. now i realize that’s it’s simply not humanly possible to respond to EVERYTHING.
maybe we just need to get fisher and M together for an hour a day and let them talk themselves out.
Summer camp was a great idea for wearing my kiddo out.
You have my utmost and absolute empathy and sympathy!
OMG, I know! The talking is non-stop. It just never, ever ends. But, I think I could listen to it forever if only the whining would stop. The whining is truly unbearable. H has only been out of school for the last few days and I’m already feeling the pressure to keep us as busy as possible — to wear him out and help me keep my sanity. I am already so tired.
ugh- I know exactly what you mean- I must say 1,000 times a day “I know what you want to say is important but you do not have to fill every moment of silence with your voice”……..between the 3 of them I don’t get much quiet time and the school year is so very very far away……..
Meg
yes yes! I will meet ya at the park sometime and we can wear them all down doobleh-vay style!
Sing it, sister.
I used to judge harshly the parent who would count down the days to school beginning again, but now I’m one of them.We too are furiously scheduling playdates, etc., and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to tire DD out. But the other problem is my house … it’s a wreck, and I’m not given a MINUTE to do anything about it. It’s either, “I help you!” or whines to come play with her. I don’t think my house will be clean again until late in that first week of school.
Now is when even the most difficult of grandparents look good enough to send the children to spend some bonding time with. I have already had several options offered to me. LOL
Oh, I hear your. Our darling DD was a screaming hysterical mess yesterday because I was driving the mile and a half home from daycare and she decided that she wanted daddy to drive instead. People keep telling me 3 is worse than 2 but I do not see how.
“I am wondering if this kind of behavior with tired parents is why my little sister got away murder.”
At almost 40, my baby has me beat down. I mean it – I give in to so much more with her. The first two, age 19 and 5, eaaaasssy children. The last one, 19 months, NEVER STOPS and DOES NOT TAKE “NO” FOR AN ANSWER – UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
I’ll be almost 60 when she goes off to college.
Maybe you should help M to start a blog, or video blog, so she can talk to everyone else. (A private blog for family, and then she can look back in years to come and cringe….)
HA! As a teacher, I am counting the days until I get to spend all day with my girls.
My kids are older, but it really helps to have a schedule for the summer too. For 2 hours in the morning, they do schoolwork, instrument practice,chores and computer. Now don’t think they have an awful vacation! By schoolwork, I mean review-type learning games. After lunch, I block out 2 hours to do something as a family – bike rides, library, board games, mall, movie, etc…. And then 2 hours ‘quiet time’. when we each do our own thing…if they know they get me to play for that block, it helps to take away the ‘play with me’ song.
Please stop giving in to the whining everyone – their future teachers will thank you
eek. I am so dreading this. Next week the big girl’s school ends. She’s never been ‘free’ for the summer since she started daycare at 2. Whole days of her and the 2.5 year old, who does the same sort of thing that L is doing (PLEASE someone tell me that 3 is not worse than 2) are in my immediate future. I’ve been pondering trying to be more scheduled and all, but who am I fooling?
Your little L acts the same as my little A (19 months). She has hissy fits over everything if she doesn’t get her way. Needless to say, she spends much more time in time-in than her big brother ever did at that age. But, now 3 year old big brother (who was a great 2 year old) is now so whiney and cries over any little thing (it is like having two kids in the “terrible twos” as the same time. Enough to drive a mother crazy
Amen, Shumei!
The secret to summer is a schedule. I’m not a huge schedule person but it is necessary for everyone to have a fun and happy summer. We also do school (math and spelling) and chores in the AM. We swim after that every single day. They see a tutor/teacher one day a week for more structured reading and writing assignments and she plays great games with them too. They love going there. They work with her together for one hour. It’s the best $25 a week that I spend the entire summer!
I love spending the summer with my kids. What I hate is the homework nine months of the year! But we do it and look forward to summer!
Traci
This post probably wasn’t supposed to make me smile, but it did. I know just what you mean, about the two-year-olds. I sympathize greatly on the sleep front, it’s really key in this whole scenario, makes everyone’s lives happier. I hope you’re able to rest well soon!
Oh, I empathize with you. I have a similar 2-yo-old and my lord, is he demanding! He is quite the talker already & will repeat something until you acknowledge it. “Yes, that is a big truck. You’re right. I DO see it. YES!!” And the whining for milk I think would go on until he literally lost his voice. And even then, he’d find some way to get his point across until he gets what he wants.
My kiddo is 4 and the huge, gaping maw that is summer is exactly why I’ve shelled out a total of $1280 to have her in various activities for a few hours every day almost the whole summer. She’s currently at a preschool “program” at a local athletic club where they do rotations of swimming, gymnastics, art, & stories every morning. She’ll also be having dance camp, art camp, and science camp. Yes, I have turned into one of those mothers I used to hate.
But with no family around for 1000+ miles, this is literally the only way I can get a break without putting her in a daycare center. This way, she gets a few hours of activities she enjoys in addition to social time with other kids. And I get a few hours of time to myself so I don’t go insane! Hang in there!
Wow. Not having kids myself, this is a little scary as we have been considering it (the whole having kids thing, I mean). DoctorDude won’t be able to handle it. I won’t be able to handle it. I can barely handle the puppy.
Me scared.