When parenthood sucks

[The Flirt]

Feel free to add any of your frustrating parenting moments.

Tyler's diet, or lack thereof, is extremely limited. He lives on Lactaid milk, water, oat n honey bars (his main staple), different types of chips/crackers and Goldfish. He used to eat yogurt in the morning then stopped. He used to eat chicken nuggets (Dino from Costco usually) then stopped. He used to eat McDonald's nuggets (on the rare occasion we would go there) and then stopped. At his 4-year check-up, his doctor recommended putting something on his plate that I want him to eat along with what I know he will eat. He always ignores what I WANT him to eat. Last night I tried the "Give him what you want him to eat and if he doesn't eat it, he will when he's hungry yadda yadda" technique but I'm pretty sure that only works with neurotypical kids. I called the pediatrician today and she recommended Pediasure as well as the liquid vitamin Poly Vi Sol. This afternoon I tried giving him the Pediasure in his milk sippy. He took a sip and refused the rest no matter how much I encouraged him. For his evening milk, I tried making it 1/3 Pediasure with 2/3 milk but he refused it after a sip. Then I tried giving him milk with the liquid vitamin and he didn't like that either. By the time I tried giving him plain milk, he was over trying anything and asked for water instead. My genius husband decided to give him his water sippy (it's a different style cup than what we give him milk in) but he put MILK in it so Tyler no longer wanted it. Then when he came back with the same cup rinsed out and with water in it, he still refused it. I'm only hoping tomorrow he forgets all of this and will drink from the cups we've tainted.

And as I'm typing this, my other child is refusing to go to bed and practically kicking her door down. At least Tyler has fallen asleep.

[SilverXeno]

So, you have a Jocelynn, too?

I remember sharing a lot of my "my kid isn't eating" woes a few years back. "Eat it or leave it" didn't work. "Eat it or go to bed" didn't work (she spent like a week going to bed at dinner time). In the end I gave the option of a PB&J sandwich instead of what I made...on some occasions I allowed cereal b/c we were out of bread.

She originally stopped eating all but nugget chicken...but is now back to most kinds of chicken, even on the bone. She's expanded her meat eating to beef - if she can put ketchup on it. If a meal has ground beef, she is more willing to try it. In the past she only ate it as taco meat.

She does not eat more veggies. Celery is still it. Apples & grapes are her only fruit (just apples for a while). She eats most any carb, except rice. Potatoes have expanded to WEDGES in addition to fries. She will eat tots, but only enough so she's not hungry.

I stopped taking advice from people about the best way to train her to eat...and just did what caused the least screams and crying at dinner. She can't have a decent night of sleep if she's hungry...which means she won't have a good day of school...and when you show up to school hungry & tired you get notes home from the school that wants to know more about your child's welfare. ...it's not a great time for parents.

Currently...Anicah is never doing what I've asked her to do as soon as she leaves the room...Jocelynn doesn't understand "10 minute shower". Katia has started to hold her breath when she's angry and still won't just lay down for a diaper change. Also, I am the meanest mom ever every single morning b/c I make my kids eat breakfast and wear weather appropriate clothing.

[Loki]

Deanna used to have problems with her time in the shower - we'd go in there and find her "swimming" on the floor of the tub (we're talking a few years ago). We got a timer for her to use and made her set it to 5 or 10 minutes (depending on whether she was washing her hair). This worked for her. Now if she's in that long it's because we've let her or didn't make it known that she had to take a "fast" shower.

For the food...have you tried making it "fun"? I always see these things online where they made a hot dog into an octopus or put a face using berries onto a pancake or whatever. They weren't all pinterest gourmet works of art but looked fairly simple.

[SilverXeno]

The more food looks like something, the less likely Jocelynn was to eat it. Even "ants on a log" too much!

We do have a timer. When she hears it go off she immediately starts shrieking about nt having enough time. "No one warned me! This isn't fair! Anicah got more time! I'm still soapy! I haven't washed my hair!!!"

And Anicah is like the official shower play by play runner. First I send her to remind Jocelynn how much time she has...and to start with her hair (if it's a hair washing day). Then usually Jocelynn sends her to me to find out how much time is left. Then when Anicah relays the leftover time Jocelynn usually has some kind of minute extending request. I say no...Anicah relays it and comes back with some other request. ...I say no & give them a new time update. This goes on for the whole 10 minutes. HELLO! If you would just take the damn shower instead of negotiating the whole time you'd be clean!!

[Loki]

Maybe she needs step by step instructions in the shower. Wash your arms, now your legs, now your whatever, etc etc. Or a timer with 2 minute warnings... lol

I wish I could get my kids to remember to do their very simple chores. One of Deanna's "jobs" is to clean the litter boxes every morning. This is something she's done for the last several years. She can remember to get up, eat breakfast and get dressed but can't remember a task she's to do EVERY day. I get that she doesn't like it, but it's not a surprise that they need to be cleaned.

And if elder one could figure out to keep her room neat...well that would probably herald the second coming.

[Kel]

Originally Posted by Loki

..well that would probably herald the second coming.

Aren't Jews still waiting for the *first* coming?

[Loki]

Originally Posted by Kel

Aren't Jews still waiting for the *first* coming?

Too true...but with the amount we say "JESUS!" around here you'd never know.

[Kel]

[The Flirt]

Originally Posted by SilverXeno

In the end I gave the option of a PB&J sandwich instead of what I made

Another food Tyler used to eat and now refuses.

I stopped taking advice from people about the best way to train her to eat...and just did what caused the least screams and crying at dinner.

That's probably what I have to do, too.

Originally Posted by Loki

For the food...have you tried making it "fun"? I always see these things online where they made a hot dog into an octopus or put a face using berries onto a pancake or whatever. They weren't all pinterest gourmet works of art but looked fairly simple.

Sounds like a good idea accept 1) Tyler will still know it's food he doesn't like and 2) I am severely anti-creative when it comes to stuff like that so it'll be like "Look! It's not a sandwich it's a.... BRICK!"

Originally Posted by SilverXeno

If you would just take the damn shower instead of negotiating the whole time you'd be clean!!

I can imagine Lauren doing this one day.

[SilverXeno]

Originally Posted by Loki

Maybe she needs step by step instructions in the shower. Wash your arms, now your legs, now your whatever, etc etc. Or a timer with 2 minute warnings....

I'm doing a slow blink right now.

...this is what we had to do when she was little. I forgot.

Kids are haaarrrrrrd. I don't wannnnnnnnaaaa doooooo this.

[JoJoJoey]

Abby's a massively picky eater. Some veggies, some fruits, cereals, other stuff, but mostly pizza, dino nuggets from BJ's (the same as the costco ones), perdue whole grain chicken tenders, parm cheese noodleroni (blech) and a few other things. She's also a super slow eater and now we have to set a timer and if she's not finished when the 20 minutes is up (and this is after she's been at the table for 15-20 minutes picking or doing everything else but eating) it gets thrown away or saved for later.

I yell a lot more than I'd like, and I wish that she'd follow her "job" (chore) chart better. I also wish she was born with better listening ears and that she'd stop having tantrums so then I wouldn't have to yell so much.

My favorite stuff is her dramatics, the 5-going-on-16 attitude. "I thought you guys loved me!" "I'm such a bad kid!" "Leave me alone!" "I hate you!" are just some of the joy that gets spewed at us at times. The door slamming has stopped, ever since we threatened to take the door off its hinges if she did it one more time.

[Sarahg]

It is hard for me to 'parent' Ej because he lives with my Mom for one, and because he is so much older now. I want to be there when he needs me always as I promised to be and try to be but I can not always go running out at night when Sebastian is all settled into bed and Ej suddenly wants me to 'visit'. It breaks my heart to ever say no to him about 'hanging out' but sometimes I have to due to the timing.

That being said, I also feel bad when Sebastian gets off schedule due to family emergencies and such. I am not talking about Ej now, but when I have to help my Grandparents at an odd hour or spend numerous days going to Mass to help them out from the minute Bash gets out of school to when it is time to get ready for bed. He is very set with our schedule and when we have dinner and the 'routine' we have at home most days after school. He is always good about stuff like that and he likes seeing my Grandparents as much as I do, but it also stresses him out and messes with the program a little bit.

As a parent we want to make our kids happy and do our best but sometimes that is difficult. /end rant

[The Flirt]

I'm searching for my receipt to return BOTH my kids. They are doing everything BUT listening to me, including biting, spitting, jumping off the couch (although I just removed the cushions so that seemed to deter them), hitting, running around like maniacs. I realized during dinner that Tyler's toe was bleeding when I found little spots of blood all over the carpet, bathroom floor and kitchen floor near his chair. I have no clue where he cut it but I also found blood prints on top of their toy cabinet. ON TOP OF THEIR TOY CABINET. HE WAS STANDING ON THE CABINET while I was making dinner.

It's days like these when I wish I drank.

[Loki]

I've seen you post pics of them jumping on the couch...if you don't want them to do it, maybe don't take pics? They might associate it with something that's good to do. Is there something they can help you with in the kitchen...even if it's just folding napkins for the table. At least then you'd know where they are when you're busy making dinner.

Too much sugar today? lol

[The Flirt]

I swear I don't feed them much sugar at all! They don't even have soda and juice to drink, just water and milk. I don't know if it's the change in routine because Tyler is out of school or what but they have been acting up all weekend regardless of how many toys are taken away or timeouts are given.

As for the picture thing, they usually get pissed off when I pull out the camera during a new "activity" like that because it distracts them, lol.

Folding napkins? Am I supposed to be using cloth napkins for a 3 and 5 year old? I still use baby wipes for their faces and wash their hands at the sink

[The Flirt]

Oh and Tyler's been sick so we've been inside more. They've gotta be stir crazy. Ugh.

[Loki]

lol, you can fold paper napkins! Just have them fold them in half. When we always set the table in my house growing up we would do that with them and then place the fork on top of it. In my house now we're bums and just eat on the couch.

They know there's a change in their routine...does camp or their summer program start soon? Maybe they have a secret stash of candy....

[The Flirt]

Tyler starts a month of summer school next week. I just hope he gets over his cough/runny nose soon so maybe we can enjoy the pool or park at least once this week. He starts running around just the house and goes into a coughing fit so I can't imagine what running around at the park would do.

Definitely no secret stash. Tyler won't even try the stuff

[Minnie]

I only have a dog.

Now I know why.

Good luck to all of you!

[The Flirt]

Minnie, we still say our cat is our favorite kid since she'd gladly let us stay in bed all day

So Loki, I tried the napkin-folding thing tonight, only I had to improvise with paper towels since we rarely buy napkins. Lauren kept wearing them as bonnets and Tyler kept telling me how many angles they had, BUT they sat at the table while doing it, so that's progress, right?

[Loki]

Busywork! Maybe they can learn origami and make napkin/towel things

[SilverXeno]

Katia climbs. EVERYTHING.

For 3 hours straight sometimes all I do is stand there and pull her off things.

[Bango Skank]

Originally Posted by Minnie

I only have a dog.

Now I know why.

Good luck to all of you!

seconded.

[McNultysGirl]

My son has decided that sleep is for the weak.

[darth meowth]

There are times when I feel bad about slamming my testicles in microwave door repeatedly.

Then I read threads like this and decide that maybe I need to slam them in the bathroom door too.