Maddening
I didn't have the greatest of weekends. My daughter continues to struggle with potty accidents at least once a day, and for a few days we went through multiple changes of clothes for her. One of the rewards I have been dangling in front of her to make this stop is buying her a new Webkinz, but she hasn't even come close to getting one. The problem this weekend is that we went to two different places that sell Webkinz and I didn't buy her one. My son ended up getting one because he had a gift card, and in fairness, he is pretty well-behaved. She predictably had a small tantrum, but we got past it and things were fine. The next day, we went to the second place, this time without my son. My mother was with us this time, and I warned her well in advance that there would be no Webkinz. However, when I was off looking at something, she and my daughter stumbled onto a display of on sale Webkinz, and my mother tried to get me to give in. When I put my foot down and said no, my daughter threw an even worse tantrum that resulted in me dragging her out of the store. Once my mother came out, my daughter was so bad that she refused to get into her car seat and continued to cry and fuss for another 15 minutes or so.
I sometimes wonder if I am up to parenting my daughter. She is so difficult, and stubborn. The potty issue has to do with laziness more than anything; she's fine if I ride her every few hours and force her to go to the bathroom. But if I leave her up to her own devices, and she is distracted, she will completely forget to go. I have tried sticker charts, rewards, have had her checked medically, even. There is nothing physically wrong with her, and she continues to have accidents. And it's not even just the accidents; she often does the opposite of what I tell her to do, or she tells me no. She takes joy in aggravating her brother and seems to thrive on negative attention and getting punished. And let's not forget how she wandered off on me at the beach a couple of weeks ago.
I'm sure this has come to the forefront because she's had no structure in the way of school or any other activities this summer. Believe me, come fall, she is going to school three days a week, ice skating, and tumbling. I am hopeful this will help. Because if it doesn't, I am going to have to do "parenting a difficult child" classes, or family therapy, or something.
I also discovered that we had hardly any food in the house this weekend. It's been hard for me to do a real grocery shopping trip, because I always have the kids with me, and they don't have the patience to go up and down the aisles looking for food. It always seems like when my husband comes home, whatever he needs to do is far more important than grocery shopping. I think he realized the problem once there was no food, though, and also realized all his frantic activity when he gets home isn't really helping us; stuff like the shutters being painted is not an emergency.
I hate to ask my parents for anything, but on Monday my dad watched the kids for almost two hours while I went grocery shopping. I spent an obscene amount of money, but our kitchen is full again. It's been hard, having both kids home all the time. I had gotten used to the routine of having them at school, and was ill-prepared for being with them 24/7. It's awful to say, but I need a break sometimes. Being a stay at home mom is not all cupcakes and happy times.
I sometimes wonder if I am up to parenting my daughter. She is so difficult, and stubborn. The potty issue has to do with laziness more than anything; she's fine if I ride her every few hours and force her to go to the bathroom. But if I leave her up to her own devices, and she is distracted, she will completely forget to go. I have tried sticker charts, rewards, have had her checked medically, even. There is nothing physically wrong with her, and she continues to have accidents. And it's not even just the accidents; she often does the opposite of what I tell her to do, or she tells me no. She takes joy in aggravating her brother and seems to thrive on negative attention and getting punished. And let's not forget how she wandered off on me at the beach a couple of weeks ago.
I'm sure this has come to the forefront because she's had no structure in the way of school or any other activities this summer. Believe me, come fall, she is going to school three days a week, ice skating, and tumbling. I am hopeful this will help. Because if it doesn't, I am going to have to do "parenting a difficult child" classes, or family therapy, or something.
I also discovered that we had hardly any food in the house this weekend. It's been hard for me to do a real grocery shopping trip, because I always have the kids with me, and they don't have the patience to go up and down the aisles looking for food. It always seems like when my husband comes home, whatever he needs to do is far more important than grocery shopping. I think he realized the problem once there was no food, though, and also realized all his frantic activity when he gets home isn't really helping us; stuff like the shutters being painted is not an emergency.
I hate to ask my parents for anything, but on Monday my dad watched the kids for almost two hours while I went grocery shopping. I spent an obscene amount of money, but our kitchen is full again. It's been hard, having both kids home all the time. I had gotten used to the routine of having them at school, and was ill-prepared for being with them 24/7. It's awful to say, but I need a break sometimes. Being a stay at home mom is not all cupcakes and happy times.