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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

I just want to kill him today

784 replies

Fifyfomum · 28/03/2014 07:45

I am so annoyed with my son, he is 3.8 and has shown absolutely no sign of 'wanting to potty train' which EVERYBODY told me would 'happen naturally' when he turned three.

He is now sat on the potty, he has been there for around an hour and it looks like he will be there for an hour more. Every time he stands up he cries because he is busting for the loo and I sit him back down again but he refuses REFUSES to wee on the potty.

I need to potty train him before school it is getting RIDICULOUS and when I talk to him now he is putting on this 'baby' voice and sticking his tongue out around his teeth so he can't talk properly and I am SO ANGRY with him.

Why WHY won't he just use the potty? All his friends at nursery use the potty, he knows what to do because we have been going through this ridiculous process day after day trying to get him to bloody urinate out of a nappy.

ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
deepinthedoodoo · 29/03/2014 20:13

What a bitch!

RandomMess · 29/03/2014 20:29

Sounds like you've made progress today, the only advice I will add is not to keep asking him if he needs to go. Leave it up to him to take himself and go (like he did - yahhhhh) If he dances around clutching his willy I would say something like "it's not acceptable to dance around like that in here, off you go to the downstairs loo until you don't need to do that anymore"

Basically by evicting him he isn't getting any attention and he may as well get on and do the wee! I wouldn't even reference that he needs one, just say we don't have willy clutching anywhere but in the loo/bathroom!

rootypig · 29/03/2014 20:30

You can defend it all you like, but most parents do not, even in their most stressed states, even think the kind of poisonous stuff that has been said on this thread, about very young children regarding quite a significant issue for them

coffee that has occurred to me since I made my post about my own 'sweariness', and have been reflecting on the thread. That's why I decided to ask the OP about whether she thinks she's controlling. I just think this sort of aggressive diagnosis of abuse is premature, and unhelpful. Reading the thread I felt that the OP was understandably really worked up, and then it was attacks that kept her so.... I know from experience that you really can't know a situation based on a MN thread.

Sorry OP, bit weird to post about you in this way. But I find this side of MN really interesting, where people stand on giving the benefit of the doubt / making room for uncertainty vs calling situations.

Can you tell I'm home alone Grin

saintmerryweather · 29/03/2014 20:35

I actually thought that despite the ops aggression she got very balanced responses in the start of the thread.

HectorVector · 29/03/2014 20:36

This worries me greatly... Seriously if I knew of anyone in real life who used that kind of language to speak about her 3 year old child, who talked about him in such a way, I'd be asking the NSPCC for advice.

It's not venting on an anonymous forum that's the problem, it's the language you're using to describe your child and the names you are calling him. It's very disturbing.

Enjoyingmycoffee · 29/03/2014 20:39

Rooty pig. Earlier you wrote 'she is angry because she cares'.

One of the daftest comments I have ever read on mumsnet. Scrap that, it is the daftest, hands down.

So displaying anger is completely acceptable. It's simply showing someone you care.

Or coukd it just be, that you have a temper problem that needs to be addressed.

Fifyfomum · 29/03/2014 20:49

puds that is exactly what we are doing, just ignoring the bad and praising the good.

Yes eyelet it is clearly because we are terrible parents whose children need to shit everywhere to have some power over us. Anyone who had met my kids would know how ridiculous that is.

OP posts:
Fifyfomum · 29/03/2014 20:50

Thanks nun

OP posts:
Fifyfomum · 29/03/2014 20:53

random not asking him to use the loo has been a huge improvement and he actually took himself off today and used the potty alone, so it is making a massive difference us not asking him.

That and the chocolate buttons have made the biggest difference I think!

OP posts:
Fishandjam · 29/03/2014 20:54

I'm hiding this thread now too. My DS has been soiling himself since June last year, when he moved into pants. I am depressed and frustrated that he can't or won't poo in the potty or on the toilet. But I cannot imagine EVER talking about him like the OP has talked about her son, or being so aggressive to others about it.

Kormachameleon · 29/03/2014 20:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EverythingCounts · 29/03/2014 20:57

So OP goes out, taking all her anger out of the house with her, and her son manages to use the potty properly. I will just mull over the cause and effect relationship there. Actually, I won't, I'll have a cup of tea.

rootypig · 29/03/2014 20:59

coffee well I'm trying to be open and thoughtful - I made my post, the one you quote, and then had second thoughts, so came back to ask the OP about it and to be honest myself. Given that, though this is going to sound really sanctimonious, I think your response is stupidly combative.

I do think anger can be to do with caring. How many parents have responded to their child running into the road, or hurting themselves, with angry words or a smack. Parents who otherwise don't shout or smack. But in my comment, "surely she's angry because she cares", I didn't mean that it is acceptable to be angry with the child, but understandable that she is angry in the situation. So displaying anger is completely acceptable. It's simply showing someone you care. That is patently not what I said. I have chosen to take the OP at her word that she is not being angry and aggressive with her son. PP, including you, think this is simply not possible and perhaps you're right.

That said, I do have a temper, yes, and no doubt a large part of my empathy with the OP is born of my understanding of feeling that way. Which has been part of my thinking and why I came back to the thread.

Though (you ask about my temper) I do not often lose it with DD, no more than an average parent I would guess. I work hard not to, as most parents do. One of the things that gave me pause is, not matter how frustrated I get with DD, I never think about her in these terms. It's more 'why are you crying pleeeeease sleep' than 'you little shit' or whatever. But then, I haven't had to deal with her pooing herself like this.

The interesting thing about a MN thread is how our responses are skewed by previous ones. I think my position has been more supportive of the OP than it would have been if she and I were in conversation alone, iyswim, because I felt that PP went too far. Again, maybe I'm wrong. So often when I post on MN I later reconsider my response. I can't be alone in this?

Fifyfomum · 29/03/2014 21:02

The only times I have left the house today is when my children have been with me or tonight when they were in bed. So that's the 'when you leave he is better' clap trap out the window isn't it.

OP posts:
Fifyfomum · 29/03/2014 21:03

He came up to tell me he'd done a wee and that he needed a choccy button! Lots of fear of course.

OP posts:
SolomanDaisy · 29/03/2014 21:11

OP, are you the poster who considered leaving her children asleep in the car while you worked?

HappyBungleBear · 29/03/2014 21:12

... why lots of fear...?

Enjoyingmycoffee · 29/03/2014 21:13

Rooty, you lost me...

CinnabarRed · 29/03/2014 21:13

As a result of this thread, I no longer value the OP's advice on any other. It has shocked me to the core, to be honest.

whattowatchnext · 29/03/2014 21:13

I honestly don't think I've ever read something on MN that has sickened me and upset me so much

OP the way you speak about your child is disgusting - it is worse than disgusting actually. The hate and vitriol is unsettling.

THIS.

The mood swings are really disturbing too. One minute she's spitting fury and poison, the next deliriously happy. Clearly not well. Your poor, poor wee boy. Don't let anyone tell you for one second your behaviour is normal. It isn't. Not even for someone who's been pushed to the end of their tether. You sound deranged.

CinnabarRed · 29/03/2014 21:14

Oh golly, is that you? The kids in the car poster?

rootypig · 29/03/2014 21:14

coffee fair enough!

rootypig · 29/03/2014 21:15

ramblings I should probably keep to myself. Anyway am thinking about your point of view.

HectorVector · 29/03/2014 21:16

Soloman it's funny you should say that because I too thought that and remember that posters name. I won't put it here because I suspect she namechanged and if it is her then it's not my place to out her. She was very outspoken, aggressive and argumentative but I don't remember her ever using this kind of language to describe her children. So I think not, but the thought crossed my mind too.

Only1scoop · 29/03/2014 21:17

Chocolate buttons/fear? I'm confused....