Imagine a short woman with long brown hair up in a disheveled bun. She’s sitting on the floor facing a corner rocking back and forth mumbling to herself something about loving her children. There are black bags under her eyes and a big blue goose egg on her forehead where she’s been banging it on the wall. She’s only 30, but someone who didn’t know her would guess her to be in her mid 40’s. This is me.
Someone please call the men in white jackets to come and get me. I promise I won’t fight when strap on the straight jacket.
I keep telling the kids that if they drive both of their parents nuts, there’ll be no one left to take care of them and they’ll become wards of the state. They don’t seem to care.
You may have just described my wife. We have 5. The unapreciative little crumb dropping, floor peeing, food sneezing, butt scratching, mud throwing, book stepping, night giggling, morning fighting, church farting, car screeming angels.
I hope you have some support. Grandparents, play group, anything.
Let me know.
Take care of yourself.
Ohhhhh boy, do I know where you’re at, **Leifsmama. ** I’ve only got two, but they came by their nicknames (Dianasaurus Rex and Johnzilla) quite honestly.
Dianasaur is five, and Johnzilla is three. They play well together, I’ll give them that. But their favorite thing lately is to be LOUD. Everything they do must be LOUD. Really really LOUD. I suspect they inherited their love of all things LOUD from my husband. He’s a musician. A very good one, but also a very LOUD one.
But if I’ve sucessfully managed to duct tape their little mouths shut, they’ll be messy instead. They love messy almost as much as they love loud. My crayoned/foodstained/I’m-not-sure-what-THAT-is-but-I-think-we-may-have-to-call-the-CDC-covered walls can attest to that.
And on those extremely rare occasions when I’ve gotten them quiet and clean at the same time (which I have yet to get a picture of, because those moments tend to last for only a few seconds at most), they *whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. * They whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine because I want them to be quiet and not fling food at each other. They whiiiiiiiiiiiine because they can’t have cookies and Slurpees for dinner. They whiiiiiiiiiiiiiine because they can’t play with the Lego that’s jammed in my foot (because they didn’t pick up their toys the way I told them to, several times and at varying volumes) until AFTER I have it surgically removed.
And just as I’m packing their stuff so I can sell them to the circus, they come up and hug and kiss me and tell me they love me, and give me a picture that they drew of me and them and their dad, all smiling and happy and eating Chicken McNuggets at McDonald’s.
snif
And they even got my hair color right in the picture. It’s red, not green or purple like they usually do.
Hey wait a minute…that hair color…oh man…that’s my best lipstick!!! AAAAAAAAAAGH!
I’m better now. Persephone I only have 2 as well. 2 and 6 months. Roadwalker I have wonderful neighbors who watch the children while I have my occasional break down.
The problem yesterday was that the 2 year old declined to take a nap and decided that his brother should not sleep either (they share the same room) and climbed into the crib and danced on him. Everytime I tried to put them down this happened. We got a new bed for the 2 year old yesterday, a big boy bed. He was in the crib and the 6 month old in the play pen (loooong story.) The 2 year old was not happy that his brother was in his bed, hence the dancing. I tried to lay down with the big boy in his big boy bed and sing him to sleep. It almost worked, but then my husband came in to tell me that he was out of beer; that I needed to go get some. The kid had a fit! He was so tired that he couldn’t sleep and started kicking, screaming, pulling hair, biting, and having a complete melt down.
I am happy to say that I just checked; the kids are asleep in the correct beds. In an hour we’ll get the chance to start all over, hopefully on a better day.
It must be an age thing Persephone because my kids are the same way… loud and whiney! My daughter is five and my son is three. Most of the time they play well together and don’t cause many problems… but they have their days. I must be handling it all fairly well though because I haven’t found any gray hairs yet!
I have one almost four year old. I work outside the home and he’s in daycare and, yet, he finds time to make me insane too. “Mooooooommmmmmmmm! Don’t make lunch! Come sit with me and watch Rug Rats!” was his oft repeatede mantra this morning and most mornings. I was about 2 feet away and it sight. Then he discovered that I made peanut butter and jelly and started to wail till I made grilled cheese. He told his father it’s because he doesn’t like honey, he only likes strawberry jelly. I always use freaking strawberry jelly and NEVER use honey! Oh, Jesus Christ, what is up with that? It doesn’t sound so bad, but this was just this morning.
It must be an age thing because my kids are the same way… loud and whiny! My daughter is 18 and my son is 15 and my other daughter is 12. Most of the time they play well together and don’t cause many problems… but they have their days. I must be handling it all fairly well though because I have hardly any gray hairs at all…
Heh. Wait till they’re 16 and have driver’s licenses and permission to stay out with the family car until 1 a.m., that’s when the gray hairs start coming…
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but perhaps one way to save yourself from the kids is to re-establish your own identity?
I know many mothers who become 110% mommy, and I am going to make a WAG based on your user-id that this could be the case here. Find something, outside the home, that is entirely yours, non child or home related. Something with a physical element might be ideal for raising your energy and relaxation levels, say “water gymnastics” or somthing like that, low-pace but still getting out and doing something with grown ups.
Something that involved interacting with adults might be good too, say taking an evening class one night a week at the local school, something without mommys in it tho
I hope you don’t take this as being way out of line, but I know it is advice that has saved the sanity of a couple of moms I know.
Iteki, you’re not out of line. My life is pretty much all mommy. It’s just that it’s not by choice. We only have one car and my husband works 5-12 hour days a week. He never knows more than 7 days ahead what his days off will be and they always change every week. My neighbors are my big break from being mommy. Occasionally I get out with a friend.
Cervaise, That sounds pretty bad, I should have clairified. Leifsdad has no control over the money. His credit is so bad that no bank worth it’s salt will give him a checking account. I had one when we met and that’s how we’ve decided to handle the money until we can get his credit cleared. Conciquently (is that spelled even close to what it’s supposed to be?) I do all, or most of the purchasing around here. That and he’s a bit thoughtless occasionally, that particular moment being such an occasion.
Iteki, you’re not out of line. My life is pretty much all mommy. It’s just that it’s not by choice. We only have one car and my husband works 5-12 hour days a week. He never knows more than 7 days ahead what his days off will be and they always change every week. My neighbors are my big break from being mommy. Occasionally I get out with a friend.
Cervaise, That sounds pretty bad, I should have clairified. Leifsdad has no control over the money. His credit is so bad that no bank worth it’s salt will give him a checking account. I had one when we met and that’s how we’ve decided to handle the money until we can get his credit cleared. Conciquently (is that spelled even close to what it’s supposed to be?) I do all, or most of the purchasing around here. That and he’s a bit thoughtless occasionally, that particular moment being such an occasion.
Iteki, you’re not out of line. My life is pretty much all mommy. It’s just that it’s not by choice. We only have one car and my husband works 5-12 hour days a week. He never knows more than 7 days ahead what his days off will be and they always change every week. My neighbors are my big break from being mommy. Occasionally I get out with a friend.
Cervaise, That sounds pretty bad, I should have clairified. Leifsdad has no control over the money. His credit is so bad that no bank worth it’s salt will give him a checking account. I had one when we met and that’s how we’ve decided to handle the money until we can get his credit cleared. Conciquently (is that spelled even close to what it’s supposed to be?) I do all, or most of the purchasing around here. That and he’s a bit thoughtless occasionally, that particular moment being such an occasion.
Well, it was meant to be funny, but yeah, it worked for me. The baby’s not quite two now, and when he tried to pull hair or bite when frustrated (a few months back), nothing worked. So when he pulled my hair, I tugged at his; when he bit my finger/shoulder/but/calf, I nipped him on the cheek or finger. He didn’t like it and stopped. Took about a week though.