I want to write a book about child rearing…focusing on sleep! I have done my share plus about 18 other peoples share of reading on this subject…and have never found anything helpful. Bub has never been a good sleeper and ended up sleeping with us for the first year of his life because that was the only way any of us got any sleep. We tried everything before giving in to this and nothing worked. All those books and articles tell you don’t let your baby “cry it out”-it’s cruel and you’ll mess them up. So we didn’t. But those wait 5 minutes plans and no cry sleep solutions plans don’t work. The people that say they do were just lucky and figured it was that-that got their kid to sleep. There is no way bub would settle down if I went in when he was crying and talked to him softly and patted his back. Oh no instead he gets more upset and more upset till he’s so upset there is no way he’s going to sleep. We tired rocking and whole nine yards and nothing works…except CRYING IT OUT!! We’ve done it twice now when his routine has gone off track and it only lasts a couple of days until he’s back on schdule. So I know that it works, but it doesn’t make it any less hard to listen to. Breaks my heart every time. So to the reason I’m ranting…While I sit listening to him cry I end up on the computer looking up sleep problems and always end up annoyed by what I find. Why I continue to do it I’ll never know. The thing is…I’m sure I’m not the only parent who’s gone through and is going through this and only ends up frustrated by the advice or lack there of out there. So to any new parents don’t be afraid to let your baby cry, it’s not cruel and you’re not going to mess them up. Now when I say baby I mean 6 months or older…before that point they dont’ sleep through the night (unless you’re really really lucky) and even when they do “sleep through the night” it’s only for 4-5 hours spurts. Anyway…just do what you think is best and don’t read books or surf the web…ask your own moms for advice. Mine have never let me down 🙂
Category: mom
Monday fun…we started out the day at the park playing with a little italian athletic prodigy. 2&1/2 years old and able to hit a wiffle ball with a bat. It was quite a sight to see. Bub had so much fun…it was him, Genoa, and Nickel (indian boy). They ran and ran and played follow the leader. It was hilarious, bub being 18 months-Genoa 2&1/2-and Nickel 4 or 5. He so wants to be a big boy…and with his new hair cut he looks the part! Then we played in the backyard and went for a walk. Then something that started exciting but ended rude happened…we found a play structure thing on craigslist (those plastic things little kids can climb on-usually they have a slide) that we could afford and it was actually still available. We had to hurry hurry to get out to the ladies house(at the beginning of traffic time) to “look at it” which to me means-since she posted a picture-we were going to pay for it and pick it up. So excited we pulled up to see some guy loading our play structure in his car-That’s right OUR PLAY STRUCTURE!!! Apparently the guy who bought it was to supposed to have shown up this morning but never did and didn’t call. Which is why she told us it was still there. So knowing we were on our way she sold it any way and didn’t even call(even though she had my cell number). Pretty rude!!!
The Adventures of Piggley Winks…is possibly the cutest show on TV! It’s a cartoon that comes on Sunday mornings on our public broadcast station. So one morning while getting ready for church I was flipping through the channels and a cute farm animal with an irish accent caught my attention. So I watched-not with bub-the entire cartoon. It is hilarious, probably because I love all their accents so much. The main characters are a pig-Piggley, a bull-Ferny, and a mallord-Dannan. They live on Raloo farm in Ireland…so generally its a town full of talking farm animals where sheep are like dogs and everyone but one animal(a sheep from america) has an irish accent. So now I watch it every Sunday morning(bub likes it too)!
My best friend who is pregnant in Florida gets to find out this week when she will be induced(pre eclampsia) and it may actually be on my birthday! How cool is that?!? What a birthday present and her daughter and I will always have a special connection (other then the fact that I’ve know her mom since the beginning of time). Cross your fingers for me 🙂
Resolution…after a rough morning I decided to make cookies for Lennox & I to eat till we puke..which definitely changed the mood 🙂 I was able to turn on some music and sit down and read. It really changed my perspective…I started reading The Parent Soup, A-Z Guide to your Toddler, generally it’s parents asking questions and other parents answering them. I have found it very helpful so far…especially in respect to dealing with Bub’s lack of patience and how he deals with anger and frustration. He gets most of his cues from me and I haven’t been as patient as I could be, nor have I been able to control my anger as much as I should. Yelling and spanking is only getting us so far. I’m going to try and be more patient myself…take time outs and not fly off the handle. It’s easy to let emotions take control! Which I’ve been doing a lot lately-blaming it on pregnancy hormones…No More!!! I have the will to control myself and I’m going to exercise it.
“God, help me endure my blessings”
Parent Soup member CKhunter2
Man it’s hard to be a mom sometimes…More and more everyday I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. I can’t figure out why he is waking up at night again..why he no longer goes to sleep easily. He’s so easily frustrated and loses control over little things. Why do we stand in the kitchen a hundred times a day crying because I can’t figure out what he wants. It’s almost like he spends most of his day squealing and throwing things in anger. How do I stop this…how do I teach him patience? I’m worried about too much TV… and why he isn’t talking more…shouldn’t he be talking more. Is it because of TV that he’s not talking more? Am I doing enough with him during the day…enough to help him learn? I constantly doubt everything I do -I’m affraid I’m going to mess him up. Is this motherhood..you walk through never really knowing what you’re doing…always making it up as you go along? I don’t mind making it up as I go along…but I’m worried that I’m supposed to know what I’m doing.
The days seem to be flying by and the weekends move even faster. This weekend was nice we got Ev all to ourselves-no work 🙂 He works so hard and so much and has no idea how much I appreciate it. I feel like I complain too much…I hate the neighbors…the yard’s a mess…we live in the ghetto-truth is the neighbors aren’t that bad and the yard is perfect for the dogs! and we don’t live in the ghetto. We have a really nice place it’s ro0my and in really good shape-beautiful hardwood floors. I have an amazing life because Ev takes such good care of me and the bub. He never tells me no when I want to get something…no matter what our money situation is he says “get whatever you want” It makes me feel like a princess. He is just a really good husband, father and friend. I think I must have done something really good at some point to be so blessed.
Sorry for the mush…but I just felt like letting everyone know how lucky I am.
You know your pregnant….when you pull out all your first childs old clothes, go through them, fold, wash, and organize then fill drawers with them- 2 months before your due date.
I’ve got it all planned out this time (haha) …I’m going to be realistic about what I can accomplish in a day. My goals are to make sure…everyone eats, gets clean, and has clean clothes. Not going go worry about dishes-paper plates all the way baby. Yeah I’ll do laundry but whether or not it makes into closets and drawers is another issue. Toys every where-who cares! The only thing I will do is vacuum-I can’t stand the dog hair building up! Frozen dinners all around…this transition from one to two is going be a breeze…wishful thinking!!