Katelyn: Everything is a power struggle with this child. She is fiercely independent and stubborn. She will not accept help from anyone, even if it is obvious the task she is trying to complete cannot be done by a two year old. We have a conversation like this everyday- "Can mommy and daddy help?" "No, Katie do it." or "No, Katie help." I have to admit that she is getting better at putting her clothes on 'Tags in the back', and making sure her shoes are on the right feet. She is very helpful with William. Always getting me anything I need for diaper changes and bath time. She really is a wonderful big sister. She has been irritated that she can't do everything for William...it's been a bit of a battle to get her to understand that she can't give him his vitamin, or put lotion on him, etc. We've had to name certain things 'Mommy and Daddy' jobs and others 'Katie' jobs. This has helped a bit, but I still feel like she has a hard time accepting it. Which leads me to our biggest Katelyn challenge at the moment- eating. Katie has always been a picky eater, anyone who knows me has heard me lament on her eating habits. Now she is refusing to eat ANYTHING we make for her. She slowly started taking away meals that she has always eaten that didn't make me feel like a horrible mother for feeding them to her. Turkey and corn were the first to fall, she has now added beans, potatoes, mac & cheese, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, ham, pancakes, bananas, apples, cheese to her 'no eat' list. Peanut butter, and cheese sandwiches are hanging on by a thread. I know she likes these foods, but she will not eat what we prepare for her. She will request that I make something for her, or I give her a choice on what she can eat, but once I put that food in front of her she looks at it, then calmly tells me 'I not eating'.......irritates the heck out of me. Jared and I have learned that this is a normal behavior for her age, we're just not sure how to handle it. I know now that I need not to yell or make a huge deal out of it...I guess that just stresses her out and makes it even more of a control issue- making her want to not eat even more. She has gone to bed hungry, given only the option of eating her dinner if her belly is hungry. But she is so darn stubborn, she would probably go to bed hungry every night. We're still at a crossroads on how we're going to handle this, but I have a feeling that turning 3 isn't going to solve any of the issues we have dealt with while she was two...
William: I don't know how many different ways I can say 'the kid won't sleep' without sounding like a broken record...but I am not one of those people who can function w/out sleep, so having it taken away from me for such a long time really makes me suck at life and being a good mom....
I keep making excuses for him because 'he's a baby' but he's going to be 6 months soon, he needs to sleep, eat and last for more than 2 hours, and possibly start moving. In addition to his non-sleep mode, he doesn't really like to just chill and play on the floor. Every time we put him down to play, he whines and screams til we pick him up, then he's just happy as a clam. I seriously worry he'll never learn to roll or crawl because he's never on the floor long enough to even try!
All that being said, I truly love these kids. I am thankful that they are healthy, happy and sweet. They're not bad kids, they really are sweet and Katie does try to do good and be helpful. And I know a lot of it is me needing to learn some patience and grow up, but since this is a journal, these are my thoughts. I know I'm not unique and that millions of other parents go through this and worse...it just amazes me that something as basic and necessary as eating and sleeping would be so hard for kids to do.......
No comments:
Post a Comment