The Measure of A Good Mother
Spike had to go into the office today so my Saturday turned into a Monday. Pixie decided to celebrate by peeing on the leather couch. Her reason? She didn't feel like getting up and missing any of her movie.
I was mildly ticked, but handled it well enough. We turned off the t.v. and had a talk about what she should do next time she needed to use the bathroom.
A few hours later she was torturing her baby sister in the way that only three year olds know how so I sent her to her room for a few minutes of Time Out. Her retaliation? She pulled all the clothes out of her closet that I had just washed the night before, put them in a big pile in the middle of the floor, and peed on them.
Seriously? Seriously. I have to admit, I lost it. I started yelling, "I'm just so mad! I'm just so mad!" over and over.
"Do you need a hug, Mommy?" she asked with concern.
"I need you to go down to the coin op and wash all these clothes. I need your Dad to come home. I need my house not to smell like pee 24 hours a day. I need to go to my room and lay down. I'm just so mad!"
Luckily, heaven intervened and two minutes post-peedom Spike came home. I ran into my room and collapsed on the bed, leaving him to deal with Pixie's dinner and bedtime. Spike summed up the day pretty well. "Some days it's an accomplishment just not to have killed your kids."
Sunday is only an hour away and I still have two live children in my home. Maybe I had a good day after all.
I was mildly ticked, but handled it well enough. We turned off the t.v. and had a talk about what she should do next time she needed to use the bathroom.
A few hours later she was torturing her baby sister in the way that only three year olds know how so I sent her to her room for a few minutes of Time Out. Her retaliation? She pulled all the clothes out of her closet that I had just washed the night before, put them in a big pile in the middle of the floor, and peed on them.
Seriously? Seriously. I have to admit, I lost it. I started yelling, "I'm just so mad! I'm just so mad!" over and over.
"Do you need a hug, Mommy?" she asked with concern.
"I need you to go down to the coin op and wash all these clothes. I need your Dad to come home. I need my house not to smell like pee 24 hours a day. I need to go to my room and lay down. I'm just so mad!"
Luckily, heaven intervened and two minutes post-peedom Spike came home. I ran into my room and collapsed on the bed, leaving him to deal with Pixie's dinner and bedtime. Spike summed up the day pretty well. "Some days it's an accomplishment just not to have killed your kids."
Sunday is only an hour away and I still have two live children in my home. Maybe I had a good day after all.
Comments
My husband's gone till Thursday. I'm tempted to call him names right now.
Hang in there and Wiz is right at least 1000 pts for having 2 live children at the end of a rough day.
Hang in there, it can only get better:0)
KEeP BELIEVING
Spike is wise. There are many days that I think my kids are lucky to go to bed alive.
April - sounds like some good old motherhood creativity to come up with your peeing solution. How long did you actually have to do it before he started shaping up?
Angie - I'm starting to think kids really are just hairless cocker spaniels. Except you get condeming looks from other women if you put kids on leashes.
Moody - peeing in a bucket of legos? I shiver to think of ever having a boy. Another one of Spike's assurances last night was, "can you think of all the damage she'd do if she was a boy? Think of the range!"
A lot.
I should forward this to Allie, she's in the throes of BABY WANT! right now... might diffuse it a bit.
Naomi went through a phase like that and I really did nearly kill her. Once she peed in her dress-up- in the bathroom -because she didn't want to take it off to go potty. I had a little less restraint than you and ripped the dress-up off her, carried her over my shoulder to the bath and dumped her in it somewhat harshly. After confiscation of the dress-up, and a little more roughness from Mom than usual, she never did that again. But that reaction is one of my biggest regrets as a mother. It is the closest I've come to a "violent" reaction. So big, fat, giant-elephant sized kudos to you for keeping it under control.
I learned about "time out" late in the game, but this I did learn. Time out is best being in the same room as the mom...for reasons you just figured out. UGH!
And this from a gramma: Stay consistent. Be firm now when they are little and when the teen years come they (and you) will fair much better.
(I hope you keep emergency chocolate on hand)
When my kids broke my large decorative mirror, I didn't hold back my emotions. I cried, I yelled, they got yelled at, then I calmed down and cleaned it up.
They got a hug later and a reminder to be more careful. Their punishment was witnessing my fury. I don't think they are going play ball in the house ever again.
Okay, laughing even harder!
I'm with The Wiz. 1000 points comin' your way. Sorry I can't send a carpet cleaner.
Potty training is awful. ESPECIALLY when they are trained, and it should all be over, but...it isn't. *sigh* But you're doing better than me. (Lately I've been tempted to incorporate a great deal of duct tape into my parenting strategies. For example, in your situation, the thought may have crossed my mind to make Pixie wear some peed-on clothes, and tape them on her so she couldn't take them off. And I KNOW that isn't right. But I'll confine my crazy to my own blog. Sorry.)
Point being: I'm proud of you. You deserve an award.