I really want to sort this out for the new year. DD (aged 4) is wearing me out.
Im a lone parent and im working full time. Im trying to keep a nice clean house and get organised now but im at my wits end with dd.
She cannot leave anything alone. I cant cook a meal or go to the loo without coming back to find the living room trashed in some way. I know what you'll say...a four year old cant be sneaky but she is and my nerves are frayed. Examples? say I have a hot pan on the oven that has to be stirred, dd wants a drink "just a second" I say..I turn my back and she's run off with the juice, poured herself a drink and its all over the floor. She'll sit at the breakfast bar to eat her cereal and decide it hasn't enough milk. I made the fatal mistake of going to the loo, I came back to find her with an empty 2 pint container, worktop overflowing, milk running down the wall and all across the floor. She'll take anything she can get her hands on and draw...on ornaments, the walls, the windows...I took her crayons away and so she did it with a candle instead.
She goes into the fridge, gets out food, unwraps it and drags it around the floor. I waste so much money every week throwing food away because of this. Or she'll go to the loo (through the kitchen) and suddenly i'll find her feeding a brand new packet of ham to the cats.
I'll find her "washing up", with a whole bottle of washing up liquid and water everywhere, sopping wet clothes.
Everything I touch these days is sticky or coated with some mystery substance. I am FED UP with cleaning and telling her no. My house is a tip because I cant keep up with her.
I know how it sounds, and please dont tell me I should keep a better eye on her because when you're a single parent that just isn't physically possible at times. Mostly im in the next room to her anyway with an open door and she still manages it. (the rooms in our house all sort of run from the next, we have no hallways, she's not allowed upstairs on her own). Im tired physically, more tired emotionally. Within seconds she can quietly cause mayhem.
She's stubborn and argumentative and will not listen. I sat her down with her brother just before Christmas and told them both how we need to be tidy etc blah blah, she laughed at me the whole way through. She's prone to tantrums and shouting also. Every morning I go to work in a stinking mood because she will refuse to get dressed, or even get out of bed..starts screaming at her brother etc, makes me late for work. I cook them meals and she will refuse to eat..things I know she eats at nursery, then she'll try and steal from my plate and scream when I refuse. Mostly it goes in the bin. I parent her in exactly the same way as I did her brother and yet he's always been helpful and generally lovely.
Sorry for the rant...im so unhappy with the situation and really at a loss.