Whining and Crying

Hugs. No help, just sympathy. We have a lot of days like that, sometimes weeks. Maybe her cold is bothering her and she feels yucky

Yeah, it is confusing. We have one great day then a terrible few days, then a good one again and despite careful examination I can not find any differences in her day / sleep / activities...nothing. I guess we all have bad days...

Welcome to Parenthood!!!!!!!

The only useful/useless piece of info I can give you and that I have to remind myself ALL THE TIME with a 9 year old and a toddler.....is that I have bad days...Daddy has bad days and we are not 100% happy all the time .....so little people are going to be like that too!


Big hugs!

With 3 children with BIG age gaps, (12 , 6 and a baby) I end up trying to cope with pre teen mood swings, the 6 year old bouncing off the walls since he is a lively little boy, the 16 month crying because the 12 year old wants quiet time in her room, the 12 year old and 6 year old arguing insistently over the paint activity I have put out. The 12 year wants to stay home, the 6 year wants to go out, the baby wants MORE food, to be carried around constantly and she has a cold which is making her scream in sudden loud outbursts for no good reason. I need a coffee and can't decide quite what to do so I bring out some mega blocks and a few good books. Instead the mega blocks are thrown at me by a tired and sick baby.

Everyone proclaims, the books have been read and reread and the 6 year spills red paint on the carpet even though I insisted it stay on the tiles.

After some damage control, I lock myself in the bathroom and instead of relaxing and breathing deeply, I start crying and cleaning out the bath, mumbling something about my tendencies to over-parent!!

Normally things go a lot more smoothly than that but there most certainly are bad days!!
The only advice I can give and I give it cautiously because I myself thrive on a bit of good advice , is this:
Do not instinctively over-parent.
Look at the facts, your child is sick so they will be miserable and intolerable at times.
They need to be offered food, drink, a relaxing amusement and the chance to sleep, some medicine if necessary and be kept clean, dry and comfortable with cuddles and kisses on standby. Failing these necessities, quietly walk away, get a coffee, talking calmly to your screaming, crying toddler about how you are finding it hard right now and you need to wind down.

Not great advice I know, but could be a tiny bit of sanity for a moment, just to realise that YOU need to look after YOU too :)