There's a whole lot of whining going on at my house lately. So much so that I can barely stand it, and I'm not holding up well. Which means there's also a lot of yelling going on as I try to grasp onto my sanity.
Sarah has always whined. A lot. I think that's just who she is. I honestly can't remember a time when she didn't whine. We keep thinking she's going to grow out of it. When she's four she won't whine this much, when she's five she won't whine this much...well she's going to be six in a couple of weeks and I don't see her slowing down anytime soon.
Amanda is relatively new to the whining game. Maybe she's seen how effective it is for Sarah (sometimes, but mostly not) or all the changes in the household have dragged it out of her, or maybe the few victories that she has had (when someone repeatedly asked for you something every five seconds for 5-10 minutes every once in a while you lose your resolve and give it to them just to shut them up) have made her think it's a good thing to continue. Whatever it is, she had stepped up her game. Up until now you could negotiate or compromise with her, or just tell her this is how it's going to be. Not anymore. Now she's the most stubborn little girl around and she does not give in. It's maddening. Please don't tell me I'll miss this someday, because I'm pretty sure I will not.
Wednesdays are our worst day of the week. We have to get up super early because Sarah has therapy before school and the therapist is 45 minutes away. Normally we would never go to someone that far away, but she has been with this therapist since she was five months old and we're not about to switch. I scheduled it this way so that we could have one day a week where the kids didn't have something after school, but it's a painful trade off. I have to wake the girls by 6:30 a.m. and they are not happy at all to get up that early.
This morning we dropped Andy off at school and started on our way. Not five minutes into the drive Amanda asked for some water. I didn't have any. She spend about the next 20 minutes telling me over and over again that she wanted water. She easily said it over 100 times. I tried every possible way to tell her that I was sorry and sympathetic to her plight, but that I did not have any and there was nothing I could do for her. Didn't matter, kept whining. Halfway through the drive she switched over to whining about how she wanted to go to school today and participate in the bike parade. Sounds easy enough, except that she doesn't go to school on Wednesdays. She goes on Thursdays and gets to be in the bike parade tomorrow, but she wanted to be in the bike parade TODAY. With emphasis on today.
Of course when we dropped Sarah off at school Amanda did not want to stay. We ran a few errands and then went back to see Sarah ride her bike in the parade. That went well until it was time to go home. Amanda wanted to stay and have popcorn. With Sarah. Except that Sarah already ate her popcorn and I needed to get home. She fought me the entire time I strapped her in the car and then repeated over and over again, "I want to eat popcorn with Sarah at the show (I think she thought the parade was a show), TODAY. NOT TOMORROW, TODAY!". Needless to say, I was done with her by lunch time.
The day went on like this. In fact, the last three days have been like this. I love my daughter, especially because when she is not yelling at me she is nicely telling me she loves me, but I am completely out of patience. Even Sarah goes on forever if she asks for water and I don't have any, I can't imagine doing this with Amanda for another 3-4 years.
I know she's just testing, because that's what two-year-olds do, but I hope the test is over soon. And I better pass.
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