I Snapped..

Have you ever had one of those moments where you feel like you are a bad parent? Well I had one of those moments today. I was trying to keep my cool but I just snapped.

Let me tell you exactly what happen. I went and picked up baby girl from daycare. Of course she wanted a piece of candy they have sitting out everyday. WhytheH they have candy out for the kids everyday is totally beyond me. What kid needs to have candy everyday? Don't they understand about childhood obesity? Anyway let me get back to the point.

I tell baby girl that she couldn't have any candy and she starts crying. Now, I can handle regular crying and pouting but that is not what this was. This was the fall down on the floor shrieking kind of crying. I get her off the floor and try to calm her down. She continues to scream and try to jump out of my arms. We finally get out of the building without too many looks and get to the car. This is where she decided to turn it up a notch.

I put her in the car and she refuses to sit down in her seat and buckle up. She starts kicking, and unbuckling herself. Finally, I just like fine we will just sit here until you decide to calm down. Well, 15 minutes goes by and there seems to be no end in sight. I got her down and buckled her up and turn the truck on. As soon as I turned the key she jumps up and turns the truck off and is blocking the ignition so I couldn't turn it back on. This went on two or three more times. I popped the mess out of her hand...why? I don't know; because popping her never seems to work no matter where you pop her.

Somehow I managed to turn the truck on and began driving off. She jumps out of her seat again and turns it off the AS I'M DRIVING. I just want you to imagine how dangerous this scene is....I'm driving, she's out of her seat, I have cars behind me and she turns the truck off.   Thank God we were still in the parking lot.  We tried again and I got a little further and she did it again...this time while I was on a main road. I was lucky enough to pull into a store's parking lot but not before I ran up on a curb and almost hit a sign. Did I mention that she is only two?

This is when I SNAPPED....

I screamed...I mean screamed. I screamed louder than I've ever screamed at a football game or concert. She could've killed both of us...over some dang (not the word I really want to use) candy. And what was her response?!? Of course she started screaming back and get this...pinched me and told me "you don't talk to no one like that"

By this point I'm just thinking..."I just have to make it 2 miles to the house". Baby girl finally calmed down and was acting as if nothing happened asking me what was for dinner. Is she bipolar...WTH?!?  We made it home safely and I've calmed down.

I am so sick of these tantrums that she has. I don't know what else to try. Time-out, the corner, popping, reasoning and talking don't seem to be working.

Anyone been through this or have any tips that I could try? I'm willing to try almost anything at this point.

A Toddler's Point of View

I am currently in the throughs of the terrible-twos with my daughter and it can get reall frustrating some times see Payback is a Mother. Well I came across this article today and I just had to share it with other moms/dads who might be going through the same thing right now. This article was very entertaining and insightful. I could picture Kyla telling me these things herself. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Here is the link: Into the mind of your toddler

Payback is a Mother...

I really wish someone would have warned me how bad the terrible-two really were. I know that they call it the terrible-twos for a reason but I had no idea it would be this bad. I thought my daughter started her terrible-two phase when she turn 1 1/2 but I was sooooo wrong. That was just a preface of what was to come.

My sweet and loving angel has turned into a little hellion. I spend the entire day telling Kyla not to touch this, don't climb on that, close the door, put that down. It is so tiring. I don't even know why I continue to waste my breath because she doesn't listen. Nothing seems to work. I thought time out was going to work and it did for the first two weeks but that was short-lived. Popping her is a waste of time because she will just look at you and continue about her business. UGH....it is so frustrating. I try to remind myself that the is just exploring her independence.

They say that when you have kids that they act 3X worse than you were as a child. Well, I just want to say "Sorry Mom, please remove the curse". I know that I was kind of mischievous when I was a child but this is ridiculous. I guess this is my payback for all the headaches and grey hairs that I caused my parents. I was hoping things would balance out since my husband was good as a child....no such luck.

Now don't get me wrong. I absolutely love my daughter but there are days when I look forward to going to work to get a break. I just don't understand how she can be so cute and sweet one moment and totally defiant the next. Hats off to all the stay-at-home moms who have made it through the terrible-twos phase. I am open to any and all suggestions and advice that any of you may have to offer. She has me seriously rethinking having another child. Someone....please tell me it get better.

"Elmo Sad"

Kyla's favorite video (for the moment)

Along with the terrible-twos come potty training. How lucky are we to get to have to deal with both at the same time. I have to admit that I have been pretty blessed in the potty training phase. This is not to say that things don't get very frustrating at times. Anyone with kids knows how expensive diapers and pull-up can be and I am so ready to be done with them. I'm actually thinking about doing cloth diapers next time around.

We bought Kyla a potty when she was 1 1/2 years old just to get her familiar with it. Kyla decided that the potty made a better stepping stool and did not touch it for 2 months. When she finally became interested in potty training she was more interested in using the big toilet than her potty. Honestly I did not care either way...as long was as she was using on of them. It was pretty much hit or miss for a while. We always make a big deal when she goes to the potty and loves to make sure everyone knows she went.

Kyla started doing really good so we decided it was time to try....BIG GIRL PANTIES. We took her to the store so she could pick them out and of course she picked out the boy Spongebob brief. After convincing her that they would not fit; she picked out these really cute Elmo panties. She was so excited about them that we had to put them on when we got home. I sat down with her and explained that if she pee peed  or boo booed on Elmo that he would be really sad. She said she didn't want Elmo to be sad. I was really excited to how things went. Less than two minutes later she starts crying "Elmo sad mommy" *sigh*...we had a #2. We get her cleaned up and tried another pair and this lasted about 10 minutes. Ugh...I was pretty much through with the whole panty trial. So back to the pull-ups we go.

I just don't get it. Kyla can have on pull-ups and not have an accident for two days but the second we put the panties on her she uses the bathroom on her self. I tried the panties again because I'm a glutton for punishment I thought she was ready.. This time she comes running up to me "Mommy Elmo mad". I asked her "don't you mean Elmo sad" and she said "no, Elmo mad cause Kyla go pee pee and boo boo on Elmo". Oh well...back to the drawing board.

Why Me?!?

I have always considered myself blessed when it came to Kyla's sleep habits. She has slept in her own bed since day one. There have been a few nights when I was home alone that I would sneak and let her sleep with me. Also since she was six weeks old she has pretty much been on a 8pm-8am sleep schedule. This has always worked out perfect because it allowed me to get homework done and get some quiet time before bed. Who could ask for more?

Well this week all of this has changed. I don't know if it’s because I've been on vacation or a new phase she's going through (God I hope not the latter). Every night this week has been a fight to get her to go to bed. I think the earliest time was 9:30 and this wasn't her actually going to sleep just lying down temporarily. Five minutes later you can hear her crying "I no wanna go night- night" "Wanna lay down with mommy". 

Oh, and to make matters better Kyla has finally realized that she can climb out of her crib. *UGH* I knew it was coming... Kyla has one of those 4-in-1 convertible cribs. I won't mention the brand because unfortunately they have had some recall (not our model...whew). Once Kyla started standing up in her crib we lowered the mattress to the very bottom setting and this bought us some much needed time. My daughter is the height of a 3-year old and she's only 2 years and 4 months.

The other night when I was putting her to bed she climbed out but I put her right back. She laid there and kicked and screamed but did not get back out. I thought the coast was clear...think again. We didn't hear anything else from her so we figured it was safe to go to bed. Around 1:04 (to be exact); Kyla is climbing in my bed with her blanket in hand. After several attempts to get her back to bed I conceded and let her sleep in our bed. When Kyla says she want to sleep with mommy, what she really means is I want to sleep ON mommy. She literally slept on my face most of the night and pushed me to the very edge of the bed. Twice I almost fell to the floor. That was a long night with not sleep.

So we decided to convert her bed to a toddler bed to prevent her from breaking her neck when climbing out the crib. The problem with this is that it makes it easier to get out of her room. Because Kyla is so tall; she can open all the doors and can reach the counter tops (recipe for disaster). A friend of mine suggested that I turn the door knob around so that it locks on the outside. Sounds like a great idea, right? Last night we introduced Kyla to her new big girl bed and she was very excited to be able to get in and out on her own. We put her to bed and of course she gets out turns on the light and begins crying and knocking on the door. After three more attempts she finally cried herself to sleep in the bed.

This is where the fun begins. She wakes up crying at 5:07AM and me being a sucker concerned mom; I go in there to check on her. She was standing at the door with her blanket crying "wanna lay down with momma". I talk to her about how she had to be a big girl and sleep in her bed. Twenty minutes later it seemed to work. I go back to bed and hear a thud. I immediately think she fell and rushed back in there. She was fine; she just threw her Elmo doll across the room. I calmed her down and went to leave her room when I realized I locked myself in. I tried to pick the lock to no avail. My husband who was dead to the world was no help. Kyla was very happy that I was stuck in the room with her. So I had to spent the night on her futon...I love my life.

I am open to any suggestion or ideals to ease this transition...HELP!