This parenting thing is challenging. And some days I don't feel up to the job.
The first day we brought our boys home comes to mind. After three straight sleepless nights in the hospital and major surgery, we gratefully brought home our new babies, carried them up to their crib where they promptly started flailing and screaming. In that moment, I thought, "what have we done?" (This is not to say that I am not aware of how very lucky we are to be parents, and parents of two very healthy children. This is just to say that I have moments of feeling unworthy of the job.)
The boys were up at 4:30 a.m. today. And breakfast was a total fiasco. I gave the boys yogourt with peaches and sunflower seeds, which they LOVE. And I sat down and ate with them, and they seemed to be eating happily. So I got up to do one of any number of the million things I need to get done in the kitchen. I turn my back for mere minutes. But it is enough. I return to find yogourt splattered on the wall, the floor, the carpet in the living room, the tv, smeared in the boys freshly washed hair and all over the table.
I lost my mind.
It absolutely kills me that I cannot teach these toddlers how to behave at the table. I'm not asking for them to know their dessert spoon from the soup spoon. I don't care if they use utensils at all. I just don't want them throwing their food! It is so wasteful and so messy. Is that too much to ask?
I have tried everything. Including the current strategy of meal time being promptly over if anything is thrown. With no snacks for an hour after meal time. Which is hard for a mother to refuse her children food.
Why do we have to repeat everything? How many times a day so I have to stop kids from touching the garbage? From knocking over Cowboy's food?
Love and patience.
(Or maybe I will employ this strategy.)
I hear you!! Dealing with two toddlers can be so infuriating. Like rip you hair out, why can't they ever be NORMAL infuriating. We had to move the garbage can into our dining room and gate it off because I couldn't take one more day of them getting into it.
ReplyDeleteIt does get better. Infuriating things in different ways now but not so caveman-like.
I love reading about your older boys, and I figure it will help to prepare me for the days ahead Laura.
DeleteOh honey! I'm so sorry. I agree w/ everything you just said. You are aloud your days girl. One of my MANY twin mom moments this week was when an absolute stranger said to me at the grocery store "I know sweet heart, mine are 18 months apart, I should've just had twins"! I seriously thought I was going to LOOSE it! Seriously if someone doesn't have 2 toddlers the same age they DON'T get it. We will all somehow get through... keep smilin!
ReplyDeleteThanks holly...there's lots of fun moments too, but my patience was tried this morning and it will be again. Do you have a blog Holly? I'd love to add you to my subscriptions if you do. I love to read about other twin families.
DeleteThrowing food is one of our biggest problems too. Whenever they are done, they just throw it off their tray. We are trying to get them to just leave it on their tray and we will come and get it. But, it hasn't worked yet. We are now in the timeout stage whenever they throw something. I haven't seen much of a difference and I might need to do something more drastic. Let me know if anything works!
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