I question myself 100 times a day, wondering, is he obstinate because of my lack of parenting skills? Or is he obstinate because he's just a toddler?
Is it normal for everything to be so difficult and to take so much time?
Honestly, just trying to get him to do the littlest things can take FOREVER. For example, how hard is it to put on your shoes and get in your car seat? Easy peasy, right?
Nope.
First, Judah has some opinions about foot-wear. He wants to wear his snowboots when it's 80 degrees outside. Or he wants to wear his crocs when it's freezing cold and rainy. There are negotiations, reasonings, cajoling, tears, long pauses...a lot of fierce kicking as I give up on getting his buy-in and just stuff his little feet into the appropriate pair of shoes.
So we're out the door. Half the battle won, right?
Wrong.
Outside the door is his collection of bubble paraphanelia. A big bubble bucket. A bubble blower machine. A little bubble bucket. And a bubble gun. They sing a siren song to Judah everytime he walks by and Judah must heed their call.
If I'm in a hurry, I'll carry him away, screaming and wailing. But if I can spare 20 minutes, I'll let him blow bubbles (read: wave the wand around and fling soapy juice everywhere) before gently reminding him we need to go to the car.
And once I get him out to the car, you'd think we're home free, right?
Not with this one.
He now needs to "drive" first. He wants to sit in the driver's seat, turn on the music and grab the wheel for a good long time. That's actually not as annoying as the times he just wants to run down the street and take a leisurely stroll first.
Anyway, if you add it all up--it's about 45 minutes from getting his shoes on to the time I finally buckle him in. Slow and frustrating does not even BEGIN to describe it!
Now multiply this by the entire day...uncooperative diaper changes, uncooperative eating, uncooperative napping, etc. and...don't you feel tired yet?
It's like herding a cat and watching molasses all rolled into one.
2 comments:
Feel this. Fighting the car seat is DRIVING ME CRAZY. It's both of my kids, working in tandem. The little one writhes and straightens his body, the big one crawls over teh seats away from me. I start by explaining that we have to keep our bodies safe - I end up by screaming and forcibly shoving them in. I've started bribing with toys - Get in your carseat, kids, and you can have this XYZ in your seat with you! It's better than killing them, I suppose.
YES! Why do kids think car seats are torture devices?! I'm with you--I've bribed with toys, gummy bears, stickers, you name it!
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