Anyone want to buy a two-year-old?
Anyone?
S-Boogie and I seem to be going through a difficult phase lately. Whenever I start feeling like I'm getting the hang of things and parenting is going well, I get knocked off my little pedestal of smugness flat onto my butt. Over the last few weeks I feel like she's become a totally different person--a defiant little person who only likes to scream, hit, pinch, and run away. It doesn't help that pregnancy doesn't feel very good and school is stressful. Today after our doctor's visit she ran off across the grass and it caused me major pain to have to run after her. Plus, my school schedule this semester has ended up working out so that I'm pretty much not home while she's napping. So anytime I am home, she's usually awake. And Master Fob has picked up some extra hours at work over the last week or two, which is a very good thing, but it also means that I get even more S-Boogie time all to myself. It's probably a good preview for how this fall is going to be, when we're back to having him in school and working, but it's not working so well for me now.
Her latest thing is physically attacking me any time I sit down on the couch. I don't understand it--and I need to keep reminding myself that it doesn't matter if I don't get why she does it, it's still wrong and it needs to stop. Literally everytime I sit on the couch she comes over and hits me, pinches me, pulls my hair, butts me with her head, etc... I feel like I spend all day telling her not to do things and putting her in time out. And even time out isn't really working any more.
I also feel horribly guilty feeling this way tonight because she's been pretty sick for the last few days. On Monday she had a runny nose and was kind of down all day. Then Tuesday she was fine. Yesterday she started coughing and breathing fast, so we started the whole asthma routine going with her nebulizer and steroids and everything. This morning she woke up wheezing, so we did more treatments and took her in to the doctor. By the time we got her to the doctor this morning she was doing a lot better, but we also found out she had a bad ear infection--which probably explains some of the recent crankiness. So now she gets antibiotics for 10 days, and steroids for another day or two. She gets an ear infection literally every time she has a cold, so I was a little nervous to give her antibiotics again. But, when she's on steroids they make her more liable to infection, and the ear infection aggravates her asthma, so we need to get it cleared up quickly. Sigh. At least she still likes taking medicine (for now).
Tonight she really got out of control. She took a really short nap this afternoon, and then spent the rest of the evening veering between extreme hyperness and major crying meltdowns that sounded like she was going to quit breathing altogether. She used to cooperate with her nebulizer, but the last two times we did it today it ended up with her screaming while one of her parents held her down for 10 minutes. And she used to be OK with diaper changes, but tonight she and Master Fob had a wrestling match that resulted in poop on the carpet, lots of (mental) cursing by both parents, and a two-year-old who was hyperventilating. Ah--the joys of parenting.
S-Boogie and I seem to be going through a difficult phase lately. Whenever I start feeling like I'm getting the hang of things and parenting is going well, I get knocked off my little pedestal of smugness flat onto my butt. Over the last few weeks I feel like she's become a totally different person--a defiant little person who only likes to scream, hit, pinch, and run away. It doesn't help that pregnancy doesn't feel very good and school is stressful. Today after our doctor's visit she ran off across the grass and it caused me major pain to have to run after her. Plus, my school schedule this semester has ended up working out so that I'm pretty much not home while she's napping. So anytime I am home, she's usually awake. And Master Fob has picked up some extra hours at work over the last week or two, which is a very good thing, but it also means that I get even more S-Boogie time all to myself. It's probably a good preview for how this fall is going to be, when we're back to having him in school and working, but it's not working so well for me now.
Her latest thing is physically attacking me any time I sit down on the couch. I don't understand it--and I need to keep reminding myself that it doesn't matter if I don't get why she does it, it's still wrong and it needs to stop. Literally everytime I sit on the couch she comes over and hits me, pinches me, pulls my hair, butts me with her head, etc... I feel like I spend all day telling her not to do things and putting her in time out. And even time out isn't really working any more.
I also feel horribly guilty feeling this way tonight because she's been pretty sick for the last few days. On Monday she had a runny nose and was kind of down all day. Then Tuesday she was fine. Yesterday she started coughing and breathing fast, so we started the whole asthma routine going with her nebulizer and steroids and everything. This morning she woke up wheezing, so we did more treatments and took her in to the doctor. By the time we got her to the doctor this morning she was doing a lot better, but we also found out she had a bad ear infection--which probably explains some of the recent crankiness. So now she gets antibiotics for 10 days, and steroids for another day or two. She gets an ear infection literally every time she has a cold, so I was a little nervous to give her antibiotics again. But, when she's on steroids they make her more liable to infection, and the ear infection aggravates her asthma, so we need to get it cleared up quickly. Sigh. At least she still likes taking medicine (for now).
Tonight she really got out of control. She took a really short nap this afternoon, and then spent the rest of the evening veering between extreme hyperness and major crying meltdowns that sounded like she was going to quit breathing altogether. She used to cooperate with her nebulizer, but the last two times we did it today it ended up with her screaming while one of her parents held her down for 10 minutes. And she used to be OK with diaper changes, but tonight she and Master Fob had a wrestling match that resulted in poop on the carpet, lots of (mental) cursing by both parents, and a two-year-old who was hyperventilating. Ah--the joys of parenting.
Comments
That poop carpet story sounds like our family two nights ago.
Have you seen this?
I read an article in the Allergy & Asthma Today publication about this and put Miss R on reflux meds the same day. We haven't used her inhaler since January!
I am wondering about the "attacks" when you sit on the couch... I read once that little girls to get on the floor and wrestle with mom or dad just like boys do. It's another I tried (figuring it can't hurt to try) and worked very well for Miss R- she's less inclined to attack us like that when she gets to be roudy and physical with us on a regular basis.
Just some ideas...
And, now that the weather is warmer we're trying to get outside and let her run around more often. It's hard being in an apartment all day, and I think she just has too much energy sometimes. When we move this fall we're definitely going to find a place with some sort of play area, a park nearby, or even a yard if we can! Master Fob wrestles with her fairly frequently, but I don't often feel like.