3yr old ds driving me nuts!

[nailsathome]

"Mummy, I want to do a rolely poley".
"Ok do one then"
"Mummy, why can I do a roley poley?".
"Because you want to".
"Mummy, why do I want to do a roley poley?".
"Because you like them".
Does said roley poley.
"Mummy, did you see my roley poley?".
"Yes"
"Mummy, was my roley poley massive?".
"Yes it was the biggest one I've ever seen".
"Mummy, why was my roley poley massive?".

Etc. Etc. And on and on and on!

I've left DH with the babies and come to bed. Now the bloody dog wants some attention!

He's at nursery tomorrow

DD is still awake.

We're away so she's super excited. I've threatened to take her home unless she stops wriggling, making up poor excuses to be awake and generally being a pita.

There are moments when I think three is the best age and moments when I am weary with answering bonkers questions and dealing with toddler logic.

It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times.

Question of the day:

DS tucked in bed asks me
"Why do we use the words hello and bye bye?"

ahhh this has been me for the past few days! but my little boy is going through the stage of calling me Rach not mummy and he thinks hes hilarious!!

Rach how long till my birthday?
only 3 days to go
Rach who is coming to my party
lists names
Rach am I getting a cake?
yes im making you one
Rach is it a big cake?
well im trying but failing...
Rach how did I get in your tummy in first place??

then I have a 2 year old that only ever says why!!!!

I'm glad we've cheered you up Open
*
Rach* I get called by my first name if I've successfully ignored the first 100 variations of mummy/Mum/mama. How's the cake going?

We tried to do film night last night so we had popcorn and sweets and watched The greatest showman for the first time. Queue a million questions about bearded ladies/short people/tall people/people swinging from the ceiling etc

yep another one driving me nuts today he woke his sister up before by shouting I dont like this song mum meant to be quiet time watching ceebies he was watching mister maker

This morning was waiting for DH to eat his breakfast with him on the table so i gave him a slice of toast with my fricking posh lemon curd on he loved it ate the lot then ate all his wetabix then cried because he didnt want lemon curd on his toast.

Being 3 is hardwork!

Woken the baby up 3 times and is now moaning that he’s crying. WELL IF YOU HAD LET HIM SLEEP HE WOULDNT BE CRYING.

Nursery starts tomorrow, thank God.

I saw a headline on dailymail.co.uk that says "Mothers share the VERY irritating conversations they have with their inquisitive toddlers - and just reading them will make you want to tear your hair out in frustration"; and as I spent a happy while yesterday with a kind neighbour and her 3 and 4 year old granddaughters, I thought I'd read it here. Then I felt an urge to comment.
If you ladies — mums & friends — are indeed frustrated, I suggest developing ways to answer more precisely: this will also develop further the children's thought processes.
In these examples I suggest more subtle ways to answer questions, which mums must develop so that this comes naturally; and I imagine some possible follow-up from the children which will indicate micro-learning atoms. Spelling is as at en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/roly-poly

nailsathome Mon 13-Aug-18 12:33
"Mummy, I want to do a roly-poly."
"Oh! Do you know how to do a roly-poly?"
"Yes; Mary showed me."
"Well now, do you think there is room to do one in here without banging into anything?"
"Yes ..."
"Well then, as long as you are careful not to kick that [....] when you do it, yes: have a go!"
Child does said roly-poly.
"Mummy, did you see my roly-poly?".
"Yes, of course. After you asked me about dong one, I wanted to watch you."
"Mummy, was my roly-poly massive?".
"Yes it was the biggest one I've ever seen".
"Mummy, why was my roly-poly massive?".
"Well I suppose it must be because of how Mary showed you what to do."

I had to make up some details of how this topic arose, but do you see what I mean about selecting a response strategy for preventing circularity?
I will consider other examples in separate postings here.

Choirofangles Mon 13-Aug-18 13:14
“Mummy can I have toast for breakfast?”
“Yes, if you'd like. Would you like toast?”
“Mummy, why can I have toast for breakfast?”
“Well, we have some bread, already neatly sliced; and we have some buttery spread ready to put on it. And the electric toaster works OK ... so would you like like it just like that? Or would you like some marmalade on it? Or perhaps a slice of cheese?”
“Mummy, why do I want toast for breakfast?”
“I don't know. Why do you want toast? Since you asked if you could have it, I thought you might have decided that toast was what you would like — that toast was your choice today! So, do you want toast?”
“No. I want porridge.”
“Oh, well we have some milk, and some oats; but it will take a few minutes to make some porridge. Would you like me to cook you that?” ...
Again, careful steering of the child's remarks and questions towards developing greater precision about the reasoning, & the question “Why?” as well as about how to say most precisely what you mean when talking.

This is so funny, ds just turned there and why arrived over night! I remember the same with ds1 and reading that they are asking to look for further info and vocab.. so go for it! ;)

Choirofangles Mon 13-Aug-18 18:51
Just have to sneak 3 year old into her bed without waking the baby sleeping one foot from her pillow.
“Why is my brother asleep?”
“Because he is a baby, and all babies need lots of sleep so that they will grow up strong and happy like you!”
“Why is his bottom in the air?”
“Lots of babies wriggle about when they are asleep. Your brother has just wriggled so he is like that this evening. Maybe he is having an interesting dream!”
“What is he dreaming about?”
“Oh, we cannot know that. Maybe when he is older, and can talk and tell you things, if he remembers a dream when he wakes up, he might be able to tell you what he was dreaming about.”
“Why is he awake now?”
“If he gas woken up, it is probably because you have been talking too loudly, near him sleeping!”
“Why isn”t he sleeping anymore?”
(Repeating the annswer in slightly different words, vey quietly.)
“Why do you look so angry mummy?”
That is an understandable maternal reaction, but better would have been to establish clearly, long since, that the child must always be very quiet when the baby is asleep, so as not to disturb him. they do not necessarily know this without having it explained, perhaps repeatedly until they remember it and do it (stay quiet) automatically whenever the baby is asleep nearby. Being angry is useless and sad; making sure the older child grasps the need and is hushed out of caring for the little one's well-being is the fundamental thing to establish.
It may be obvious, or idealistic; but it is how to live this always, surely.

Haha oh dear we have been deemed worthy of the Daily Fail!

It's a shame that not everyone is able to take this in the light-hearted spirit in which it was intended.

As a highly educated person, I am more than capable of engaging in in-depth conversations with my children. In fact today's question was "why are you a girl?" to which I gave a beautiful answer detailing the presence of the XX chromosomes. Before I had a chance to comment on gender stereotypes, he exclaimed "whooooo cows in the field" as we drove past them.

Oh my god I am so relieved to know that this is normal or as normal as a three year old can be. DD just turned 3 and she literally is this thread. I told DH in a very frank and serious conversation the other night that I am worried she has some sort of information processing disorder and wonder if we should have her assessed!

Bue I'm glad you've found relief here. I find that at this age their brains are working so quickly that it seems like they haven't understood but actually they are 10 steps ahead!

Very droll, olduncle

I could cry now I’ve found my people!
My 2.5 year old is ALL over this! The newest trick is whenever the baby has fallen asleep DC starts singing “wake up baby” I get more high pitched tell DC to be quiet or insists they need a poo (newly potty trained) which ends up with me putting baby down. Baby crying and the worlds smallest pee! 😩😩😩

@Mamawingingit1234 with you on that one or needs something else that you can't ignore either. I am sure his little brother is gonna be thick because of lack of sleep.