Friday, May 17, 2013

Stay at home mom. Easy right?

Stay at home mom. Easy right?

Wake up at 11pm to crying 3 year old. Nightmare, pee, water, snuggle, sleep.
Bed again. 4am small body snuggles, "milk? milk?" 2 year old wants to nurse. Adjust, nurse, flip, other side. "Now go to sleep, sun is sleeping!" Pokey legs, roll over mommy again and again, hard head butt, finger in the eye, "Mommy sleeping?" I pretend harder. Finally drift off.

5:30am too many kicks to the ribs, baby back to bed. Carry him off, sleep again.
7:30am wake. Both babies up, running.
3 year old, "All done, mommy, wipe my bum! I don't want those pants, no car shirt!, play cars with me pleeeease!"  brush teeth, wash face, "no wash face!"
2 year old, poopy bum, change, brush teeth, wash faces, finally all dressed, undressed, run away naked! sigh.
(mom still a mess - no time for cars)
Breakfast. Oatmeal from scratch... kinda. Mom, "Up the table!" Babies running off, back at the table, dropping toys, banging spoons, throwing, crashing, laughing. sigh. Oatmeal served "I want milk!"
(mommy, still a mess, trying to make a tea.

Sweet silence of boys eating, tea made. Sit down, take a hot sip. "Done!" 2 boys fly off seats and run off full speed. Messy bowls, messy faces, messy floor, chase down, clean up, sweep, dash around, dishes, floors, chairs, boosters, table. Oh ya, feed fish!

Mommy hungry. (cold tea and still a mess with added oatmeal)
Ok boys playing cars.
"My car, MINE!, Give back, Noooo!~ Mommy, he pulled my hair~" (gentle, share, be nice, talk it out, blah blah blah blah blah)

Mommy attempts to make breakie. Eggs, toast, peanut butter, and another sip of tea. Sit down, breathe, pick up a book to read and eat... 2 year old arrives. "Eggs? Toast? Upie!" Feed the food stealing bird.
Clean up, dump, crash, bang... turn around... dumped bucket of cars, box of stickers on the wall, leggo disaster. Sigh. Clean up song. Everyone joins in.

"Mommy has to teach a Baby Sign Class!" "Nooooooooo!" "Milk! Granola! Snuggle! Play Cars!"
1 hour til class...
Bathroom break for mom, now everyone has to pee! "knock knock knock, mommy?"
Poopy bum, Potty training, peed on floor, out comes cleaners, clean toilet, floor, sink, handles... sigh. makeup.brush hair, snacks prepared, coffee, tea out, last minute clean up, get boys settled. teach a class. "I want in!" "Milk. Granola, Snuggle!"

Now for the fun part....
Moms and babies go home, sitter arrives, about to pack and leave when I hear giggles. Turn around and yes the ENTIRE large bin of oatmeal on the floor. 2 boys 'figure skating through the oatmeal flakes. Flakes in the living room, kitchen, down the halls, bathroom and my bedroom. Sorry sitter, I gotta go! (no time for cars)

Teach at New Beginnings - Parent Workshop. Techi problems. Husband calls, not time to talk. 1 hour later, set up all ready to go. Teach 2 hours to teens, clean up, pack up, drive, wait in Timmies line.

Arrive home.
Walk in door, crying 2 year old with large black and blue bruise from running into the coffee table 1 sec before I came home. Large goose egg bump. "No ice! Owieeee!" Tear stream down both our faces.

Now crying 3 year old, no attention. "Sorry huney baby is hurt." Snuggles, snot, tears, whine, hungry, feed.
3 year old melting down.

OK NOW... Snuggle, love, play cars with both boys. Small fight over mommy's attention. Bathroom break for mom. Come out and found peanut butter toast in my purse. Yummmy. Clean up some more.
Ok... more meltdowns... nap for 3 year old.
Clean up, laundry, dishes, homeschooling for 2 year old, unpack work stuff, write invoices, return phone calls, play with 2 year old. snack for mom? I forget?

3 year old up. Pee, poo, diaper, potty training, oh and more snot.


Dinner, made pizza together. It burnt. Ordered pizza. Boys ate. Messy, messy, messy, floor, walls, chairs, boosters, boys. sigh.

Bedtime.
Books, snuggles, pjs', teeth, faces, hands, potty training, more pee on the floor. 2 year old running in and out of room naked and happy. Sigh. 2 year old, "Sing Mull of Kintyre, feed puppy, nurse puppy, I love Cliffard the dog mommy. Snuggle, I love you. Head on pillow mommy. No door close. Stay." Sigh ... so sweet.

Finally 1 asleep... 3 year old next. Snuggles, I love you, songs, stories. breath. 3 year old, "I love you mommy. snuggle with me." So I do. Sigh (in a good way)

Oh did I mention daddy's out of town?

God love my babies and God knows I need a day off.

Hope you had a good laugh. Not everyday is lovely, but everyday is surely funny.

Amanda
www.stickyhands.ca

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Whining is actually an advanced skill.

 Whining a good thing?

Every mother I know would disagree. I read this article today about how whining is actually an advanced, age appropriate skill. Kinda a neat way to think about it.

Here is some of the highlights.

Whining is actually a sign of maturity! When our children whine it is a sign that your little one is growing up and, get this, gaining self-control!

Babies come into the world with one communication~crying. As they grow into toddlers, they begin to learn ways to communicate... pointing, signing, grunting, small words and sounds. Then they move quickly into better, more efficiant ways of communicating, but fall into the old pattern of crying when they get emotional and forget how to articulate what they need. This is normal for babies and we usually accept this.

As they become preschoolers, language advances and they use talking a main source of communication for the most part. They still struggle with some skills such as pre-thinking, consequence and rationalization skills. These skills are lacking and at time they forget what to do or say when their emotions rise.

Their frustration levels rise and stress hormones sap the blood flow from those underdeveloped ‘thinking’ portions of their brains.

Normally they would then fall back to crying ... but preschoolers know better... they have SOME self control and so they resort to whining... the middle ground. Good for them!


Whining is, in fact, just an advanced form of crying.

Now what do WE do about it? We can either get upset and name call or label our preschoolers as 'spoiled' or 'bratty' and refuse to listen to them. OR We can choose to recognized that they are in need of help and they desperately need our guidance to show how to handle their emotions and find the words to sort it all out.  Whining = a time to really listen. Stop what your doing and go to them.

 We accept crying as a normal part of baby and toddlerhood.

If we, the adults, would adjust our mindsets to accept the normalcy of whining, it would lose a bit of its power to annoy and enable us to respond empathetically to our children when they’re mustering all their newly-developed coping skills to avoid a meltdown.

1. Prevention is always the cure... if we can make sure to pay attention to the times of day whining seems to occur regularly and watch for triggers such as hunger, missed naps, over-hurried schedules, etc. and make what adjustments you can to prevent the whining before it starts next time.

2. Respond by slowing down, sitting with them or kneeling down in front of them, and giving them your full attention.

3. Use a quiet, soothing tone to reassure them, and listen patiently all the way through as they work their way back through the frustration and find the words to express themselves.

4. Ask questions! "What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What can you do now? What can I do to help you? What do you need? What do you think we should do now?" This can happen AFTER they are calmer and relaxed.

5. Validate their feelings if you know whats wrong already. "I see your really sad. I'm sorry your sad." "Do you need a hug?"

 "I understand your upset because you can't have the toy until after dinner. Where can we put it when your ready for it?" Get them involved in problem solving. (again after they calm down)

Give them your time and attention throughout the day. Put up a 'mommy/daddy and me' time (15min goes a long way) Let them know when they get alone and special time with you.

Remember children who 'feel heard' tend to grow out of the whining faze faster then those who don't. If your child is whinging, think of it as a time to reflect on what your child's needs may be and what you can do to change the pattern in your life. Good Luck!