So this is more a mommy vent vs. an informative “here’s a
tip for you” blog post. Because today I just don’t feel like pretending to have
any answers. You’re getting a taste of raw Christina.
I'm very well aware that children all develop at different rates and that
I shouldn’t compare my child to another, blah blah blah. But I’m frustrated for
many reasons over the lack of progress in a few areas. And if I’m frustrated,
maybe someone else out there is frustrated, too. Maybe I should just go drink a
beer instead of writing a blog post.
My daughter fights sleep with every bone in her little
body.
For the past month or so, Sydney hasn’t wanted to go to
sleep before 9. Or 10. And sometimes 11! I really had no idea why. No matter
what time we got her into the bed, or
what type of routine we followed, she flat out refused to go to sleep. Most
times she would demand, “Ride!” meaning she wanted to ride around in our car to
fall asleep. And my husband and I gave in…a lot…because we wanted her asleep so
we could relax. It figures that NOW she wants motion. When she was an infant,
she hated her swing.
When I was pretty much at a complete loss, I read this and
decided that she must be going through another sleep regression. I was
convinced, because at 4 months, she hit her very first sleep regression. I had
a really hard time adjusting. She would wake up at 2a and stay awake until 5a.
Then I had to go to work and pretend I knew what the f@#% I was doing. I gained
25 pounds during this time, because exhaustion threw my body into constant
carb-craving mode. I have still not lost this weight. I’m lazy, I guess.
A few days ago, I saw the (most likely) true culprit for her
sleep fighting. Two
Year Molars. She still shows 3 signs, (no sleep, drinking excessive amounts
of milk, and not wanting to eat) and all this fun were for just the bottom molars. The top molars haven’t even started
showing themselves!
My daughter is still not potty trained, nor is she even
remotely interested. And she’ll be 3 in November!!!
I partly wonder if this is because she is in a daycare
school full of boys her age. She acts like dirty diapers don’t bother her. I
try really hard to take her potty every morning and she gets REALLY mad at me
for doing this. I even tried using M&Ms as a bribe (something I was actually
against) as a reward for going potty. But, it does nothing for her. She could
care less that chocolate is associated with peeing. She fights, yells, screams,
cries, or melts down on me when I put a pull-up on her and then she demands
diapers. I haven’t tried putting her in regular panties, but I have a feeling
it wouldn’t work. I think I’ll be part of the 25%
of kids who FINISH potty training after the age of 3. Knowing my luck, it
will be 4. And if you read the first couple of comments on this
article, because my daughter is not potty trained already, Scott and I have very
poor parenting skills.
When I Google “potty training” to get strategies, all it
really does is infuriate me because I read what seems like the impossible. “My
daughter was potty trained at 18 months.” “My daughter was a breeze to train.”
“All we did was chase her around with a potty to catch her puddles.” “We sat
her on the potty to read books for hours.” WTH?? I don’t have time or patience
for that! So we’ll wait, I guess. And while other parents are out and about, taking
their kids to public restrooms to use the pot, I’ll be using the bacteria,
poop-infested diaper changing station… her legs and torso will be hanging over
the sides and I’ll be completely grossed out at the loaf she just pinched in
her diaper.
I have a super picky eater.
Sydney NEVER eats what I present to her for dinner, NEVER. It’s
maddening. She might pick at what I give her, but for the most part, she just
stares at it, plays with it, or throws it and says, “Eww, disgusting!” I feel inadequate
as a cook when she does things like that and frankly, me making it look pretty
on her plate is a complete waste of time and effort.
Along those lines, she hates most vegetables. She might eat sweet
peppers periodically, but as far as snacking on carrots, celery with peanut
butter, or eating green beans, peas… even ones out of the can… she 100%
refuses. The other night, she proceeded to do nothing but squish each pea I
gave her with her fork. She ate zero. It makes me wonder why I even bother
feeding her to begin with. It just turns into a big fat waste because it always
goes in the trash.
Anyway, there you have some of my current frustrations and
otherwise things that make me feel completely inept as a mom.
