Category: struggles

Makes Me Want To Cry

Partly because he’s at that age, and partly because it’s his temperament, Thing 3 cries a lot.?? Here’s a rundown of a typical weekday morning, as I try to get them to school and me to work.? In between all the crying he’s generally pretty happy and playful.? And the crying doesn’t last long, only until he gets what he wants or the unpleasant (to him) activity is over.

He cries when he wakes up and wants to get out of his crib.

He cries because he wants a cup of milk.

He cries because he wants me to turn on his favorite show, The Backyardigans.

I mention “time to change your diaper” and he runs and hides.? He thinks this is very funny.? I play along for a minute, then pick him up and take him to the changing table.?? Then he cries.

I let him run around in his diaper for a while, so he’ll stop crying.? He does, until it’s time to put his clothes on, and the run-hide-crying game starts again.

He cries when The Backyardigans is over, until I start a new one.

He cries when his milk cup is empty until I refill it.

He cries when I put his jacket on.

He cries when I put him in the car.? Until I turn on The Backyardigans on the DVD player.

And finally, when I drop him off at daycare, he cries when I leave the room.

Ah, weekday mornings.

Breaking The Silence

Preschoolers are in a constant state of perpetual motion. Put two preschoolers in a confined location, like the back seat of a car, and the inability to move results in all that energy going to the only place they can still move – their mouths.

For me a ride in the car means non-stop chatter between Thing 1 and Thing2.?? What do they talk about?? There is a lot of taunting – I’m older/faster/stronger/scarier/sillier than you. Then there is the grabbing/hitting/touching.? Usually followed by a good amount of whining.

About the only urge that can overcome their urge to talk in the car, is their urge to compete with each other about anything and everything.? Usually the competitive thing causes problems, as they fight compete over everything from going up the stairs first to walking in front of each other.? But in the car a little competition can actually help.

Remember the old Whoever Talks First, Loses game?? I introduced it this weekend and it actually worked for a few minutes.? Both were trying to stay quiet.? I could see it was killing them.? Then Thing 1 broke the silence to declare he was winning because he hadn’t talked yet.? Which of course prompted Thing 2 to declare he won.? Which then started another argument about the rules, and whether coughing or sneezing counted.

It was nice for a few minutes.

Single Parenting

I am a single parent again this weekend. SuburbanMommy is off on a girls Oscar weekend until Monday. I hope to learn from my experience last weekend, when I was a virtual single parent while SuburbanMommy was working Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (holiday).

The first lesson I learned is to get help!

Lesson #1: Reduce the number of kid
So this weekend I have lined up a sleepover Friday night for Thing 1 with his cousins at SuburbanAunt’s house. At this point, dealing with just two kids, even though it is the younger ones, seems like a walk in the park. I wouldn’t have said that a couple years ago when I only had two kids. But when you are used to three, two is easy.

Lesson #2: Bring in outside help
SuburbanUncle is coming to visit Saturday after nap time (Thing 3’s, not mine). He is younger than me with more energy, and the kids will have someone else to climb on for a few hours, giving my back a much needed rest.

Lesson #3: Bring in more outside help
On Sunday, I have a babysitter coming in the afternoon to give them dinner and put them to bed, so I can eat a meal in peace.

Lesson #4: Plan recovery time
I’m taking a vacation day on Monday to catch up on some stuff (like blogging) and get some much needed R&R.

Lesson #5: Being a single parent is hard
I always knew single parents had it tough. But until the last two months, when I got a taste of what it’s like, I couldn’t appreciate just how tough. To the single parents out there: I salute you. How do you do it day in and day out?

Saturday Report

Well, I made it through another Saturday.? I decided to go with the National Building Museum, which as it turns out is one of DC’s hidden gems for occupying little kids.? There really isn’t anything special in terms of exhibits.? But there is a huge open space and a kid play area called the Building Zone.

We started our day with some play dough at the kitchen table.? An activity that can only be done when SuburbanMommy isn’t home.? Sure, it gets a little messy, but they actually sat in one place for, like, 30 minutes. Continue reading Saturday Report

Saturday Is Coming

It’s Monday, but I’m already thinking about Saturday.? No, not because I’m looking forward to the week ending.? I’m trying to think what I can do with the 3 Things all day.

SuburbanMommy started a new job after new years that requires she work on Saturdays through the end of February.? That means it’s me with three little kids all day.

It’s not that I’m one of those stereotype dads who is lost when left alone with his kids.? It’s just that, until now, we’ve always worked as a team on weekends.? We’ve got the two-on-three zone defense down pat.? We either all go together, or we split up the kids – divide and conquer.? We minimize the time it’s three on one, and things ran smoothly for the most part.

I’m now three Saturdays into this new arrangement.? How’s it going?? Continue reading Saturday Is Coming

Short Order Cooking

When I got home today with the Things, it was almost 6:30.? This is the most hectic part of the day for us that I don’t look forward to.? Tired and hungry kids.? Tired and hungry parents.? Usually, SuburbanMommy gets home first to get their dinner ready (and open a bottle of wine), but tonight we got there first.

Sometimes in these situations I’ll order a pizza as we’re driving home so it gets there around the same time.? Or we’ll go through a McDonald’s drive thru.

I know, I’m a terrible parent for giving them fast food.? But we do get the apple slices…and chocolate milk still has milk in it, right?

Tonight, I didn’t feel like pizza or fast food.? And the last thing I wanted to deal with was trying to cook amid that chaos.? So I let the Things choose what they wanted to eat.? They actually ended up eating more than usual, probably because they chose it. ? Here what was on the menu:

Thing 1
* 2 blueberry pancakes (frozen, prepared in microwave)
* corn and peas

Thing 2
* 1 strawberry
* leftover mac & cheese
* 1 blueberry pancake
* fruit loops, no milk

Thing 3
* goldfish crackers
* watermelon
* fruit loops

More Chocolate Intoxication

I’ve already posted about the intoxicating effect Oreos have on my kids.? Well, today I encountered another substance with the same potency: hot chocolate.

SuburbanMommy was kind enough to load Thing 1 and Thing 2 up on hot chocolate, then leave the house with Thing 3.? I tried to play a game of Candy Land with them, but the game broke down when someone reached the part of the board with Gloppy.? In case you haven’t played Candy Land in a while, Gloppy is the chocolate monster near the finish line.

This video was taken a few minutes after the hysterics over Gloppy.? Hysterics which included Thing 2 laughing so hard, he literally peed his pants.? The playing cards are for a game of Go Fish we started, but we kept getting sidetracked by Gloppy.? I got the video camera and asked to get all their “sillies” out so we could continue the game.

A New Christmas Record?

We all know the image of Christmas morning portrayed in movies and television.? Snow gently falling on the rooftop while you peacefully wake to the aromas of breakfast and coffee.? The innocence of pajama clad children opening presents.? Blah, blah, blah.? Here’s how it went in my house this year.

We were jarred from our sleep by the not so soothing sounds of Thing 3 standing in his crib and crying at the top of his lungs.? It was 4:50 am.

Hoping to keep the others sleeping longer, Suburban Mommy rushed to the crib to try to contain the noise.? But the genie was already out of the bottle, so to speak.

Thing 1 was the next to wake up.? He is already a morning person, full of energy the second he gets out of bed.? He is also five years old, and fully aware of what awaits on Christmas morning, so you can imagine the energy as he ran downstairs this morning.? It was 4:58 am.

Thing 2 is more of a night owl, like me.? He likes to wake slowly, lay in bed for a while, watching tv.? Also like me, he can sometimes be a bit grumpy slow to wake up.? On this morning, though, he came right out of his room to head downstairs.? As soon as he looked outside, a panic came into his three year old mind.

“Is today Christmas, daddy?”

“Yes”

“But it’s not snowing!”? [starts to cry]? “It’s supposed to snow on Christmas.? It’s never going to be Christmas!”

I suppose I can’t blame him since all the holiday shows we’ve been watching for the last month – Rudolph, Frosty, Shrek the Halls – always have it snow on Christmas.

It was 5:05 am.

We were able to hold them off from opening presents until around 6 o’clock, but the excitement was too great.? Since we said we couldn’t open presents until everyone was awake (Suburban Uncle was still sleeping in the basement), Thing 1 and Thing 2 made sure that wasn’t a problem anymore by storming in to his room and getting him up.? No wonder we don’t get house guests more often.

They made such quick work of tearing off wrapping paper that we had opened all the presents by 6:45.? I’m thinking it must be a Christmas record – all presents unwrapped before sunrise.? Which was probably about the time when others, somewhere, were waking to the peaceful scene of falling snow.

Then, we set another record shortly after the presents were all opened – the earliest fight over a new toy.? It was 7:07 am.