It's not that I think I have parenting all figured out. But I do have some basic strategies, after twelve years, for dealing with many situations that arise. But the NOT LISTENING and, related but worse, OUTRIGHT DEFIANCE have me absolutely stumped.
Like I actually wonder if Tiny Boy has oppositional defiant disorder. Like I'm thinking about taking him to a child psychologist. Like the tenacity that allowed him to survive life in my hostile uterus has now become a personality disorder.
Getting a child to take a bath or eat dinner or strapped in the carseat should not take so much energy. But it does.
I hear you! Just had a challenging weekend with my 3 year old, who is STILL not asleep at almost 10pm! Ugh....
ReplyDeleteUgh. So sorry.
ReplyDeleteyou know i get this so much. I'm sorry you are going through this, I don't wish it on anyone (well, maybe the smug moms who think their kids are perfect because they are perfect parents). We saw a child psychologist for a while. It was helpful in that she agreed that there was something wrong, but she also helped us realize (yet again) that our kids do feed off our own behavior/moods/actions and how important it is to KEEP CALM. (but how to do that? who the f knows?!)
ReplyDeleteYup.
ReplyDeletemy wriggler is six, and seems to be past the worst of it, but we still have bad weeks.
I found a book called 'your defiant child' that made me feel like the world's worse mother, but also had some good strategies.
My sister thought I was nuts when wriggler was so headstrong compared to her first. But now her second is just as fierce and she's starting to understand.