Thursday, November 12, 2009

Bad Mother....

I thought I was doing everything right. I feed Evan nutritious food through out the day--paying special attention to his evening meal. I give him a nice warm bath dress him in clean warm pajamas. We brush teeth, read stories, pray and off to bed. WELL I say "off to bed" but that was really just a phrase. We usually had another 2-3 hours of screaming and general toddler destruction before he would pass out. UNLESS I loaded him up in the car for quick spin around the coast line.

Needless to say I have been at my wits end! What to do what to DO!

So last night was YW in excellence. Brandon met me at the church to help set up the projector for the movie. Once it was set up I wanted him to take the boys home so they could get to bed. Well Brandon decided to stick around just in case there was some technical problem he might have to fix.

Inside I was spazing out because I can't really function with my kiddos around....the noise factor is really debilitating! Alas, I was conducting, speaking and wanted to make sure I spoke to half a dozen parents that aren't at church with their girls. So I had to stay focused! Long story short since the boys did not go home for dinner and bed they ate handfuls of sugar cookies.... for dinner! Gross I know. The night before they ate baked salmon brown rice and broccoli. Like I said I'm really crazy about what they eat. I think it manifests in behavior and sleep patterns etc.

On the way home from church we stopped at Subway to grab some sandwiches I wanted to try and put something good in their tummy's before the long half hour ride home that would surly induce a solid sleep. Well...... McDonald's is right next door to Sub and Nana was just here teaching these boys about french fries. So I gave in and got them fries.... It was late I was tired. They stayed awake through the ride... Duh all of the sugar! Both were cranky and had no desire for baths and jammies. So I put them straight to bed when we got home. No jammies (they had on sweat suits), no books, no teeth, I prayed. They seemed to enjoy being treated like feral children.

So why does any of this matter?








EVAN SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!! The day before his 18 month birthday.

I had a really good day today. I FELT like me again. I THOUGHT like me again. I CLEANED like me again. I did skip the library story time today..... because NOBODY woke up in time to get there.


So tonight we switched up the routine. No baths. We did teeth. Very quick story. Prayer.

Dinner was a mixed bag. I offered chicken, tangerines, cucumbers, and a roll. All of that was thrown on the floor. So I gave up. Evan ran to the fridge later and after a few grunts and points he picked out OJ. Odd.... my kids hate juice. Whatever, I gave it to him and he drank it. I offered him some cheese crackers to go with it-- he obliged me and ate them. I'm hoping I can get this feral child parenting down to a science....you know so I can write a book. Fingers crossed for sleep tonight!!!!

3 comments:

  1. Hey! Gina had a boy! She said she's going to post the birth story on the blog...hopefully this weekend!

    I have loved catching up on these posts!! Sorry I am such a slacker! We honeymooned in Oceanside which I think I've told you 400 times already...at least you can go get free cheese samples at the Tillamook factory!:)

    Another thing...I was reading how you want your baby to go sleep on his own. All of mine did by 6 months...NOT! I'm totally joking.:) You are talking to the woman who has her children in her bed FOREVER! Anyway, what I was going to say is that you'll hit your limit & something will click for you. For me, with both boys, I just hit mental breakdown & made them cry it out. I'm not saying this will work...I'm just telling you my mindset to make it happen & maybe it'll be helpful. My boys were so into nursing it was getting to be too much...especially at night. So I finally decided I needed my sleep & they needed theirs & it was worth the few nights of crying. For mine it didn't work for me to go in every few minutes to calm them. Cold turkey baby! Just decide when you are ready & know that it's better for you & for them to sleep through the night than for both of you to be waking up...that's always what got me through the long crying sessions. It will only take a few nights...keep telling yourself that. So with Chumby I stopped nursing him at night & made him cry it out all night long for about 4 nights. The first 2 nights I think he sat up most of the night with his head bobbing as he couldn't stay awake. So to get through that I plugged in earphones to a movie so I wouldn't hear it.
    Okay, this is getting way too long...hopefully that is a wee bit helpful...don't feel too bad & do whatever you need to do when you've hit your limit & then you'll be able to make it happen!
    And by the way, you are not a bad mother in the least bit.:)

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  2. Congrats! Yay! Way to go! You know, I think Evan sleeping through the night was a blessing from heaven because we both know you earned it and needed it! You have been working overtime on YWIE and what a fabulous night it was! Oh my! It was wonderful! I still can't believe it! Thanks for all your hard work. You out did your self! I felt very good with how it all turned out! Your boys were great because YOU ARE GREAT! You really deserve the 'mother of the year award'! You do an amazing job!

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  3. This reminds of my mom. She tries so hard to make everything go just right and do everything so perfectly sometimes and a lot of the time it really just doesn't work out. I think she's learned though, that it's okay to let some things slide. It's definitely an important lesson to learn and makes life much less stressful and happier in some cases! Not that I really KNOW what that's like, but it's an observation I've made!
    -Jessica

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