Laina and I have been butting heads lately. Might I recommend you NOT show your kids that you can print coloring pictures from your computer? It’s all fun and games the first two times they ask, but then it becomes all they think about…and they want five or six pictures at a time…and they beg and whine and plead for more the minute each picture has been colored. And by “colored” I mean the hands and feet have been filled in on each of the pages.
My daily fights with Laina stem from:
a.) Me refusing to waste more paper for her.
b.) Her wanting to snack all. day. long. on fruit snacks.
c.) Her screaming about not wanting to wear a coat to school in the middle of Fall Wind Storm Winter Watch 2009.
and
d.) Her ridiculous need to be awake at all times.
She continues to be the one child of mine who manages to keep her eyes open until after 10pm, crawls into my bed multiple times throughout the night, is the first one up at or before 7am each morning, and take measly one hour naps in the afternoon. The lack of sleep is making her whiny and emotional and she’s driving me bonkers.
So I decided to get to the bottom of our issues and really talk it out:
me: why don’t you sleep at night
laina: cause i keep having bad dreams. i only have nice dreams at nap time, it’s not nap time, it is really dark.
me: what do you have bad dreams about?
laina: bout wolfs, alligators, kitties, dogs, hyenas, reindeers and that’s all and wolves and crocodiles and that’s all.
me: why do you always ask for more pictures?
laina: I like you to cause I like the pictures an I like ta color dem.
me: why won’t you wear your coat?
laina: cause I don’t like it
me: Then why did you choose it?
laina: cause I sink it’s really pretty but i choosed my mind I don’t like it I just like my purple coat. My heart one.
me: But that coat is not warm!
laina: Yeah it issssss…cause I always don’t want teacher to see…she will sink it’s ickyyyyy.
me: why don’t you take long naps?
laina: I tell you to print me out pictures.
me: What can I do to make sure we have smoother days, and you are not whining and I am not irritated?
laina: ummm…you can buy me sings like a dog an print me pictures and special sings.
I’d love to wrap up this post with an insightful conclusion about the phases kids go through and how we’re better parents for choosing to hang in there and see them through it and that continuing to nurture and support them is the surest way to get the results we crave….but I can’t.
…off to Target to buy some special sings! Tomorrow is going to be a GREAT day!!
Dorlita says
Cute. I know that all to well and mines hasn’t even hit 4 yet. She’s two and I need a nap after putting up with her bossing me around about midday. Hang in there. Isee brighter days ahead when they grow up.:-)