When babies are little you talk about the witching hour. That is the time when it is either getting close to their bedtime and they are about the have a massive meltdown or when they are up past their bedtime and in the middle of a meltdown. They can't communicate to you that it's coming, but you know it is. Well, it doesn't just happen with babies.
Amanda's time is 7:00. She starts to get really cranky around 6:00-6:30 and if she doesn't eat by 7:00 she is a nightmare. Usually eating gives her a little more energy and therefore a little more time, but most nights she is crying and begging me for food while I am trying to make dinner. I refuse to feed her because I don't want it to replace the real food we are having at meal time, and it is a delicate balance that I most often lose.
Last night it was the same thing. Andy came up from his man cave in the basement right about 7:00 and Amanda was already moaning and groaning about how she cannot eat peas because she hates peas. I said, "Andy, Amanda's crying, what time is it?" just to see what he would say. He immediately answered "seven o'clock" and smiled. We've had this discussion before and I've explained to him that if Amanda is losing it, it is most likely around 7:00. A little inside joke with my 10-yr-old. I wish we had more and they weren't filled with so much conflict.
So Amanda complained all through dinner that she couldn't eat peas and she was so so tired and her pasta didn't have enough alfredo sauce on it and whatever else she could think of to complain about. She just really wanted to go to bed. Then Sarah started in. She was tired too and blah, blah, blah. I don't know, I can't remember it all and it starts to turn into whining so I just shut it out.
Of course once they have eaten, and yes Amanda ate all her peas because dessert was on the line and she likes dessert more than she hates peas, they are full of energy and start running all over the house. This isn't just an expression, they were really running up and down the halls and in a big loop from the living room to the dining room to the kitchen. They weren't doing it quietly either, especially since we have wood floors, they were yelling and laughing and pounding on the floor.
Eventually we finally got the kids to head upstairs while Charlie and I finished eating and picking up the dishes. Lately bedtime is such a battle because they go upstairs and then just start giggling and tickling and messing with Andy and goofing off. I hate it. Hate. It. But last night they decided to surprise us. All three kids got dress in their pajamas, brushed their teeth and went to the bathroom before we got upstairs. Charlie kind of clued into what was going on so stopped me on the steps and we just hung out for a bit. Andy read the girls two books and then they got into bed. When we finally decided it was safe to go into the bedroom the girls were already tucked into their bed and only needed a kiss goodnight.
So nice, so refreshing, so wish they would do that at least once a week.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Kid Quote of the Day
"Spring is not my favorite season anymore. Now my favorite season is summer."
-Sarah, after we had a ridiculous amount of snow in April and it is supposed to snow again tomorrow.
-Sarah, after we had a ridiculous amount of snow in April and it is supposed to snow again tomorrow.
Three, It's a Magic Number
I've been here before. It's like a broken record. Except it's not the kids repeating themselves, it's me. I'm not talking about the fact that they don't listen to a thing I say. That's not "oh, I've done this before" that's an ongoing struggle of "why do I have to yell before you will listen to what I say". I hate that too, so so much. I need to find a new trick, like whispering. I have a friend who says her kids know they are in big trouble when she starts to whisper. Then they listen.
What am I talking about? I am being kind of cryptic. I'm talking about one child not understanding why another child does something. More specifically, the older child not quite understanding why the younger child says and does so many stupid things. I cannot tell you how many times in one week my response to a question from Sarah, and occasionally Andy, is "because she's three". There is no reason because she is unreasonable.
The funny thing is that I went through the same thing with Andy when Sarah was three. He was always asking why she would do things that to him seemed absolutely ridiculous and she should have known better. Nope Buddy, she's three. He didn't like it and neither does Sarah.
There must be some point in the older child's life where they stop thinking of their younger sibling as a baby and start to, somewhat, think of them as an equal. They can talk, they can go to the bathroom (almost), they can pretty much do everything the older child can do. So why don't they think the way the older one does? Oh yeah, that's because they're three. They aren't there yet. But the older kid doesn't get that and so they are just incredulous to the things that the younger kid does. Over and over again. It never sinks in. Which is why I have to just keep saying "because she's three".
I can't remember at what point they catch up. Well, honestly, Andy still thinks Sarah is an idiot but I think that's more because of who Andy is than how Sarah behaves. I do have to every once in awhile tell him to knock it off "because she is only six". I'm really hoping Amanda's craziness tapers off in the next six months so we can move on to a new line of questioning. Oh, I also hope that Sarah gets to a point where she stops asking me why people do things instead of asking the people who are doing those things (even if they are right in front of me when she asks), but that is wishful thinking.
Can you hear me banging my head from where you are?
What am I talking about? I am being kind of cryptic. I'm talking about one child not understanding why another child does something. More specifically, the older child not quite understanding why the younger child says and does so many stupid things. I cannot tell you how many times in one week my response to a question from Sarah, and occasionally Andy, is "because she's three". There is no reason because she is unreasonable.
The funny thing is that I went through the same thing with Andy when Sarah was three. He was always asking why she would do things that to him seemed absolutely ridiculous and she should have known better. Nope Buddy, she's three. He didn't like it and neither does Sarah.
There must be some point in the older child's life where they stop thinking of their younger sibling as a baby and start to, somewhat, think of them as an equal. They can talk, they can go to the bathroom (almost), they can pretty much do everything the older child can do. So why don't they think the way the older one does? Oh yeah, that's because they're three. They aren't there yet. But the older kid doesn't get that and so they are just incredulous to the things that the younger kid does. Over and over again. It never sinks in. Which is why I have to just keep saying "because she's three".
I can't remember at what point they catch up. Well, honestly, Andy still thinks Sarah is an idiot but I think that's more because of who Andy is than how Sarah behaves. I do have to every once in awhile tell him to knock it off "because she is only six". I'm really hoping Amanda's craziness tapers off in the next six months so we can move on to a new line of questioning. Oh, I also hope that Sarah gets to a point where she stops asking me why people do things instead of asking the people who are doing those things (even if they are right in front of me when she asks), but that is wishful thinking.
Can you hear me banging my head from where you are?
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Kid Quote of the Day
"You should have had a different baby boy. One that wasn't so mean to me."
- Sarah, whispering to me about Andy this morning. She then proceeded to tell me that I should sell him at the "store where people can buy other people" and get an identical twin replacement.
- Sarah, whispering to me about Andy this morning. She then proceeded to tell me that I should sell him at the "store where people can buy other people" and get an identical twin replacement.
Milestones
I know I've written in the past about how my kids can't seem to do things that other kids do so naturally. Andy is 10 and I'm pretty sure he still can't ride a bike. Oh, he can ride it, but starting and stopping is questionable. Sarah is definitely not there and Charlie and I both recently tried and quickly gave up teaching her. If you truly understood how much she whines and cries about everything you wouldn't have much patience for it either. Seriously, after spending some time with her over the holidays April from New Jersey told me she thought I had been exaggerating about Sarah but realized truly I was being generous in my descriptions.
When my sister and her family came in August Sarah was distraught by the fact that her cousin, Ella, could swing by herself without needing pushes and I did not ever think she was going to get to that place. But alas, a few weeks ago she proved me wrong. Out of nowhere, somewhere deep within, it all of a sudden clicked and finally our instructions of how to "show your feet, hide your feet" or "lean back when going forward and lean forward when going back" made sense. One day she could just do it, and once she figured it out she didn't want to stop.
She came home after school and all she wanted to do was swing in the backyard. When I told her she had to do her homework first (which usually consists of reading one book and takes about 10 minutes), I was intentionally trying to prevent her from swinging and was destroying her life - or something of that nature. Day after day she would spend on the play set seeing how high she could go and how quickly she could get going. She was so incredibly proud of herself and it is amazing how much her confidence grew, just by learning that one simple thing.
I was proud of her for sure, but all I could think was it's about time! I still have no idea if and when she'll figure out the bike riding, but hopefully knowing how to do this will give her the confidence to realize if she can conquer one impossible take she can conquer another.
As for Amanda, she's getting there too. Over the weekend she figured out how to pull herself up onto the swing without any help. Hopefully she will get the swinging part down sooner than later.
When my sister and her family came in August Sarah was distraught by the fact that her cousin, Ella, could swing by herself without needing pushes and I did not ever think she was going to get to that place. But alas, a few weeks ago she proved me wrong. Out of nowhere, somewhere deep within, it all of a sudden clicked and finally our instructions of how to "show your feet, hide your feet" or "lean back when going forward and lean forward when going back" made sense. One day she could just do it, and once she figured it out she didn't want to stop.
She came home after school and all she wanted to do was swing in the backyard. When I told her she had to do her homework first (which usually consists of reading one book and takes about 10 minutes), I was intentionally trying to prevent her from swinging and was destroying her life - or something of that nature. Day after day she would spend on the play set seeing how high she could go and how quickly she could get going. She was so incredibly proud of herself and it is amazing how much her confidence grew, just by learning that one simple thing.
I was proud of her for sure, but all I could think was it's about time! I still have no idea if and when she'll figure out the bike riding, but hopefully knowing how to do this will give her the confidence to realize if she can conquer one impossible take she can conquer another.
As for Amanda, she's getting there too. Over the weekend she figured out how to pull herself up onto the swing without any help. Hopefully she will get the swinging part down sooner than later.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
A Blessing in Disguise
Andy is very similar to my brother, David. He's a complete antagonist, knows how to push everybody's buttons and gets pure entertainment out of pissing people off. He's smart, and he knows it, extremely confident, and convinced that he is always right and knows everything. I love them both, of course, but growing up as Dave's little sister who often got the brunt of his obnoxious behavior makes it pretty hard to parent someone just like that.
Last week Andy got grounded. When he gets grounded, it's always from electronics. I don't know that this punishment makes him rethink his actions and prevents him from doing the same exact thing in the future, but it's the only thing we know to do that is painful for him. He was grounded for a week and then got a few days tacked on for bad behavior, so it has been quite awhile since he's gotten to touch the computer (other than to do homework), his DS, his PlayStation or the iPad. He has gotten to watch tv, because we can't make the girls stop watching tv as well, but he's been forced to watch all their princess and Disney Jr. shows (that don't appeal to him but he secretly likes). Andy is like me and can pretty much get sucked into anything that's on tv, so it hasn't been too bad in that respect, but I'm sure he would like to be watching something else.
Generally when he gets grounded I moan and groan inside, because him getting punished is almost like me getting punished. He follows me around and asks me what he can do and he pesters me and he picks on the girls. A lot. When Andy is grounded the complaint level from Sarah and Amanda goes way up because he pays more attention to them, which is usually not a good thing. This time it was a little different.
I'm not going to lie, there definitely were some moments in the last week when the fighting and teasing was a little out of hand, but overall it was pretty enjoyable. He read several books this week which made us both happy. One afternoon we played a game of chess and another he and Amanda played Indiana Jones (Amanda was Kentucky Amanda). They played outside a little bit, when it wasn't snowing, and we even did a little shopping. All in all, a pretty good week.
Tomorrow he gets his electronics back. We may not see him for a few days. Or, he may put the joystick down and do some reading or adventuring or game playing. I hope it's the latter, there's so much fun to be had.
Last week Andy got grounded. When he gets grounded, it's always from electronics. I don't know that this punishment makes him rethink his actions and prevents him from doing the same exact thing in the future, but it's the only thing we know to do that is painful for him. He was grounded for a week and then got a few days tacked on for bad behavior, so it has been quite awhile since he's gotten to touch the computer (other than to do homework), his DS, his PlayStation or the iPad. He has gotten to watch tv, because we can't make the girls stop watching tv as well, but he's been forced to watch all their princess and Disney Jr. shows (that don't appeal to him but he secretly likes). Andy is like me and can pretty much get sucked into anything that's on tv, so it hasn't been too bad in that respect, but I'm sure he would like to be watching something else.
Generally when he gets grounded I moan and groan inside, because him getting punished is almost like me getting punished. He follows me around and asks me what he can do and he pesters me and he picks on the girls. A lot. When Andy is grounded the complaint level from Sarah and Amanda goes way up because he pays more attention to them, which is usually not a good thing. This time it was a little different.
I'm not going to lie, there definitely were some moments in the last week when the fighting and teasing was a little out of hand, but overall it was pretty enjoyable. He read several books this week which made us both happy. One afternoon we played a game of chess and another he and Amanda played Indiana Jones (Amanda was Kentucky Amanda). They played outside a little bit, when it wasn't snowing, and we even did a little shopping. All in all, a pretty good week.
Tomorrow he gets his electronics back. We may not see him for a few days. Or, he may put the joystick down and do some reading or adventuring or game playing. I hope it's the latter, there's so much fun to be had.
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