Monday, April 12, 2010

and the day went south…

In the interest of full disclosure, things started going downhill after the pancakes…

Candyland was a dud. He wasn’t interested. No problem… we’ll move on…

to incessant whining, fussing, crying, begging for things over and over and over again, time outs… which led to…

trying to cut down on the amount of time outs and other disciplinary action by escaping the house, just as we’ve done every day for the last few weeks because of this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad “phase”….

which led to… Evan eating mulch at the park, and me getting whacked in the face with the swing Seth was in as I came back up from the mouth finger sweep…

fussing as we leave the playground, back home, to being peed on while reading to the temporarily happy boy on my lap…

who became unhappy again as I stripped off his clothes and put him down for a nap…

Seth has always been on the easily frustrated side. And its always been hard on me to see most other children handling small setbacks and disappointments better than he does. But these past few weeks have been on another level of awful entirely.

I wake up trying to be optimistic about what the day will hold. I have nice plans and hopes, and things go well for a little while, but it doesn’t take long for him to get upset with me after hearing several “not right now’s” and “no’s.” And then the day gets very long. And by the middle of it, my nerves are strung out waiting for the next temper tantrum. I usually don’t have to wait long…

Please tell me this is going to end soon… because it makes me sad that I’d really like a vacation from my 3-year-old.

4 comments:

Perry and Amanda said...

There are days I need a vacation too - my husband laughs when i say I want a vacation for my birthday. But the occassional good moments remind me there is hope. I am thankful once again for grace and the gift I have been given. Today is a good day ask me about last friday.

Brandy Vencel said...

My oldest is a born grouch. There is really no other way to describe it. I am now actively working with him on building better thought-habits, because I believe for him the grouchiness starts in his negative state of mind. I have wondered more than once if things would be different had I read most of Charlotte Mason's volume 5 (Character Formation) when my children were younger. It got me thinking about some of this in a different way than before. That is not to say that we do not discipline, etc. But I felt more creative, etc. after reading her thoughts.

With that said, if you keep plugging away at this and are consistent, it really does bear fruit. I promise. But I know how hard it is, so hang in there!

Rachel said...

So sorry! I know this is wearing on you. We out today for much the same reason! The kids were too grumpy to do school so we ended up shopping for flowers and having lunch at the park. It ended with Emma screaming as left and screaming the whole way home and into the house for her nap. Sigh.

Just a thought, but I know Nathan was able to do wonders with Collin when I could do nothing. It's still that way. Can David spend time with him on the weekends and be the one who puts him in time out and does the other disciplining? Maybe this would help? I'm sure David does this some already, but it might just take a stronger hand from him to help lick this thing!
Thinking of you today!!

Ivy Mom said...

I'll be honest. I was actually relieved to read this post! (not that I wanted you to have a bad day) I feel like a vacation from my 3 year old too. You're not the only one with a little boy in that whiney phase. We're there too! I find myself frustrated trying to figure out the best course of action to deal with his behavior and not to get too undone by it. Not much by way of solutions here, just a loud and clear "I hear ya." :)