I had a good friend come home for a couple of weeks over Christmas and New Years. While she was home, I tended to stay up a wee bit later than normal....by a couple of hours. Add that to the stress and craziness of the holidays and you'll get one tired Stephanie. I've been absolutely exhausted lately and can't seem to catch up. Of course I don't try to go to bed earlier lately...so it really is my own fault. I can't not have my hour and a half to two hours to myself after I put Hailey down for bed. I just can't. It's a necessity. So, I'm exhausted. And looky here...it's 11:00pm and I'm still up. You think I'd learn. Oh well. I'll just be in "bitch mode" for another week! :o)
I've been having a rough time with Hailey lately. She's DEFINITELY in the terrible twos. She hits, screams, throws tantrums and pushes whatever buttons she knows exist....but only to me. It's driving me absolutely nuts. She doesn't listen to me at all and tells me no all the time. Or some times, she just doesn't respond.....all night. I'll talk, ask her questions and she just stares at me with this glare, as if she's saying "why the hell are you talking to me". I'm the only one she does this too. I can't handle it. I'm, to be quite honest, having a REALLY hard time with it lately. Like today, I had a hair cut at 1:00 and I left at 12:15 just because I had to get out of the house and away from her. She was so frustrating. Another senario: I was blow-drying my hair today and she was playing in the closet with my shoes. No big deal, whatever. However, she took all of my shoes out and started sitting on my cheap, flimsy shoe rack. It was bending horribly and I didn't want her to break it. So, I said, "Hailey can you get off of mommy's shoe rack please? It might break." She said no of course, so I threatened going to get daddy (she actually listens to him). She then proceeds to get up, walk over to me, I'm sitting on the toilet (closed of course) blow-drying, and hits me. Just like that. What the heck!? This kind of stuff happens all the time. So annoying and extremely hard not to get angry with her. Oh! Sometimes, I tell her no for something and she asks for time out....ASKS! She knows what she's doing....Ugh....does anyone have any ideas of how I can handle things differently, in hopes that she'll get a little bit better? I know she's going through a stage, but does it have to be THIS bad? Please...any advice would be helpful.
Alright. I'm off. Night all!
Even Unto Death
7 years ago
5 comments:
Hmmm....advice? Each child is different, so it is hard to know what works for Hailey. I recommend ABSOLUTELY ignoring bad behavior and praising positive behavior. That's not saying let her do anything she wants. If she hits or climbs on something she shouldn't you can't exactly ignore it. But, I'd remove her from whatever or set her outside your door and close it for a moment. If she has a tantrum....put in earplugs. LOL Just don't acknowledge bad behavior. Easier said than done. Is anything negative happening in daycare? Good luck. Most of all, Steph, be consistent in whatever you choose to do. Only you know how to deal with your child.
Hugs
Oops! That last comment was from gramma, NOT grampa.
oh I know exactly what you are going through!! And oh my patience wears so so thin. Especially when I'm in the middle of Target and Guthrie runs away and when I scoop her up she proceeds to backhand me across the face. It's SO awesome.
So, my friend loaned me 'the happiest toddler on the block' and it's been good so far. I'm not done w/ it yet. I've tried some stuff and it's worked really well. A lot of it echos what Gramma said above about being consistent in whatever you choose to do and ignoring the bad behavior while finding the little good stuff so you can praise her.
I am happy to report that after a probably 2 month stretch of total nightmare behavior from Gus to me it's gotten better.
Remember this is just a phase.
Oh the joys of parenting! I do have to say I think getting upset for hitting a totally legit thing to get upset about. If kids think it is ok to hit mom and dad, they start thinking it's ok to hit other kids. Ask my kids about biting! Having worked in daycare, its one thing I will not tolerate- Zoe bit Teagan awhile back, out of frustration, but after I bit her back - hasn't happened again and Teagan knows I mean business as well!
When the girls tell me no, they get "The Look" (my mom's was the Evil Eye!) and an "Excuse me, I don't think I heard you correctly - who's the mommy?" Zoe, lately has told me she is, but at 4.5, that's a totally different can of worms! You'll get through it and it will get better!
Thanks for all of the advice. Tonight, I ignored. It seemed to make her tantrums shorter. :o) We shall see as time progresses! Thanks guys!
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