Patience .........where do I buy some

[megcleary]

I feel horrible to dd at the moment. She is 20 months old and I start my days with her all excited and looking forward to the time together and by 5 when DH comes home I feel like meany Mom.

I just get irritated by the same story 5 million times and the screams if I pick up another book. The fact she can feed herself very well but chants mummy help throughout each meal. I try and be firm my only rules really are not grabbing things off high shelves and touching the cooker so the last half hour of the day cooking dinner can be shouty and she cries.

Actually reading this I am a bitch she is a child and I need to grow up.

hmm

megcleary, don't be so hard on yourself! you are not a bitch, having a small child of that age constantly going on and on and on and wanting your attention is enough to drive most people nuts!

My DS is 17.5mo, so a bit behind your DD - but he can't bear for me to be away from him, or not paying attention to him, for more than about half an hour. So, I have one or at most 2 half hours in the day that I can get on with other stuff. Or he whinges. And whinges. And whinges. Until I end up shouting in frustration!

It's a tough time - just give her lots of cuddles and focus on the good bits - DS has just learnt to do proper kisses and it's so very sweet when he comes and plants them all over my face, so I have to try and forget the straight arm swinging slaps that I also get sometimes...

Meg, if you find out could you pick up some for me, too?

DS woke me up at 4.30am with a screaming tantrum on Monday (he's 21 months) and frankly I spent most of the day resenting the hell out of him. Didn't want to read Thomas the fecking Tank Engine for the 15th fecking time, or feed him when he can do it himself, or sit through another ITNG... just wanted to be left alone and maybe to have a little sleep. Neither of which I got, of course.

So I'm a meany mom, too. Or maybe we're just human, and our kids are actually a bit irritating sometimes...

I am ashamed of myself for not having more patience sometimes, but most of the time I do pretty well so I'm trying not to beat myself up about it.

On a practical note, don't know what time your DD has tea, but DS was disgracefully whiny from 4-5pm until I started giving him a late afternoon snack to hold him till tea. Apparently he doesn't know when he's hungry. Probably stupidly obvious but thought I'd mention.

Thank you for the kind words and tips its just she is such a good girl nursery staff adore her and threaten to take her home, friends say how lucky we are she is so funny, sweet etc and I feel like the wicked witch for being short or bugged by her at times.

Chatted to DH and he said she wouldn't be all the nice things if it wasn't for my influence so I must be doing more right than wrong. I do love that man. So hey ho count my blessings, cout to ten and continue the parenting malarky!

Oh god yes, that low-grade whining noise is just an offence. Intolerable.

On the plus side, we do remember the lovely things about our DCs more than the bad bits -and meg, your DH sounds fantastic which is the best parenting aid of all, IMHO!

DH is a star and we manage her well when together he is so confident about it all boy thing i suppose!