Today was one of those days. I knew that for sure when at about 7:15 pm I was drinking chocolate syrup straight from the bottle.
At Disneyland they had a "stuff this box full of as many Mr. Potato Head parts as you can for $18" thing. Trouble is, we just gave our Mr. Potato Head head to DI a couple of months ago (due to a lack of parts). So I took the kids to the store to get a Mr. Potato Head. Anders whined, complained and begged the entire time; it had really been the whole day up to this point. He was ticked that I wouldn't buy blueberry Pop Tarts, and when I handed him Mr. Potato Head he said, "Why can't we get three of them?" I seriously almost lost it on the boy at that point. I told him if he asked for one more thing, whined one more time or gave me attitude, Mr. Potato Head was going back on the shelf.
While standing in line at the register, my boy picked up a box of goldfish crackers (which he doesn't even like, by the way) and looked at me like he would die if he didn't get them. I gave him one of those Mommy Looks of Death, and the guy in front of us noticed.
This guy then walked up to me and said, "If I were you, I would have given him the choice between the goldfish and Mr. Potato Head, and he would have put the goldfish back."
I wanted to smack him, but I decided it was not worth my time to respond verbally (or with physical violence), so I averted my Mommy Look of Death from Anders and gave it to this man. He quickly retreated back to his spot in line and said, "Sorry, none of my business." I said, "Yeah."
He said, "I have a 2 year old and a 2 month old." I said, "Wow."
I think I scared him. And I'm glad.
So the whining, complaining, arguing and begging continued throughout the day. I can not handle it. This is a serious issue with us lately. I am butting heads with this kid 90% of the time, and it makes me sad that I'm frustrated and irritated with my child as much as I am. I'm asking for sympathy, advice, commiseration- anything.
And if anyone has drank chocolate syrup straight from the bottle, I'd also appreciate knowing about it.
ps- I swear a Disneyland report is coming. Today was just not the day.
12 comments:
i was laughing out loud, picturing you give that guy the mom look. as much as i want to offer "suggestions" to other moms, i always resist. as should others.
I feel like that often and I find that i have to get them out of the house to do kids stuff. we usually end up at the park and i take a book. or i get out the paints or play-doh. I prefer the park, no mess. but i feel like i have to stop doing what i want to do and do things that are fun for them.
I wanted to gather you up in my arms after reading this and laugh and cry together. My unsolicited advice would be to have a family meeting with Elder Ballard's conference address on young mothers in your hot little hand. Take his advice on what you can do for yourself to take care of yourself. THEN spell out what the children should do to help their moms. THEN what the husbands should do. Of course, have a pan of brownies waiting......
If this is uneeded or unwanted, I will consider myself "mommy looked at!"
P.S. Oh yes, I have slurped chocolate syrup out of the bottle, eaten frosting out of the can and squirted Reddi Whip into my mouth. Whew! I'm not the only one.
I can't offer advice but I can certainly offer sympathy. Maybe it's the oldest child-mom relationship, because Kali and I are always butting heads. While at the park with a playgroup the other day, Emi showed her "true" colors by screaming her head off every time she didn't get her way. After that, my friends said they were so happy to see my child throwing a fit because it made them feel better as parents to see my children are not perfect. I guess my point is that it's great to admit our difficulties with our children so others know that they are not alone!
p.s. I haven't done the chocolate syrup thing yet but Brian knows that when I bolt out of the door in the evening to make a diet coke run at the gas station, Momma has had a bad day!!!!
Actually I'm quite relieved to find that I am not the only one that does drink choclate syryp from the bottle. also, I wonder if it is the age. Ethan who is normally me sweet, easy going child screamed yesterday for 30 minutes because I told him he had to change into a long sleeve shirt. Can you imagine the trauma? Wish I had the answers. If you get any send them my way. By the way I am totally jealous that you went to Disneyland, forget the kids it is my happiest place on earth.
I was having a play date last week with some "new friends" that had just moved here. You know trying to make a good first impression, so I can have at least 2 friends out here. Anyways, Sabrina got mad over something and threw the BIGGEST temper tantrum I have ever seen in my life. It went on for probably a good 45 minutes: screaming, stomping feet, crying hysterically. I tried EVERYTHING I could think of to calm her down, and nothing worked. I had driven 30 minutes to get to the park, so I really didn't want to just pack it up and leave, but finally I had to. Needless to say, I finally got her into her carseat...still screaming bloody murder, and then I called up Brian bawling telling him that these people would never want to see us again! If only I had had chocolate syrup! Needless to say, I have seen them both again, and after firm lectures EVERY time we go anywhere near people now, Sabrina has been pretty good! We all go through it! I would have decked the guy...
Oh my gosh! We were both having the same day, only I was shooting my mommy looks of death at Max and it wasn't working. We have found that for him to "be nice" temporarily, we say,"Do you want me to start the snow blower?" For whatever reason, this totally freaks him out and he says,"Mommy, aw be niiice!" But then he'll go do something else that pushes my buttons. Chris is the only one that can really put the fear of you-know-who in him. I don't know how he does it. Magic, I guess. It's probably just the age (terrible 2's), but I know that the horrible 3's are right around the corner (June). I wish it was warmer because then I'd just say,"Go outside." Maybe that's it. Our kids just need to go outside. Ugh!
Oh, I ate a bowl of ice cream and cake when I finally got Max to take a nap (after 2 hours of screaming and trying to barter his way out of it)... not quite chocolate syrup, but close enough.
I love unsolicited advice. The funny thing is I used to care. Now I just am known as the crazy lady with the crazy house. I have adjusted to out of control kids and I guess I just completely ignore the rational people around me yelling, "Do you know your kids are on the roof?" "Should your kids be playing with matches?" "Those are pretty big knifes your kids are playing with!" I have found that Prozac and chocolate are a great combination to survive through these years of motherhood. Do I drink chocolate from the bottle? Everyday! Do I hide a stash of M&Ms from my kids? Always! Do I let my husband even know where I hide my stash? Never!
i'm so sorry that you had a chocolate syrup straight-from-the-bottle moment. i think courtney's advice is the best as i see better results with my own kids when i do that too. more one-on-one attention helps them to behave better. i am always thinking, "i should really create a schedule like super nanny has her people do." but then i don't and wish instead that she would just show up to my house (sans cameras) and fix everything for me.
do you want me to nominate you for that show?
Thanks for the comments, everyone!
Oh man... the nerve of some people! Dave and I are trying the "1-2-3 Magic" method (see the book) much less effort on our parts and so far so good! I haven't drank chocolate syrup from the bottle yet but I HAVE eaten almost an entire pan of peanut butter no bakes or an entire bag of those lindt chocolate peanut butter truffles... you know, only like 200 caloriest PER TRUFFLE! If I liked chocolate syrup, I am sure it would be an excellent breakfast of choice!
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