Totally manipulated
I wish I could remember all the times that I had said "I would never let my kids get away with that!" during the last 30 years so I can compare to what I let Sydney get away with so far. I feel so manipulated by the little 26-pound squirt.
Last Sunday, Sydney was enjoying a bowl of ice cream at the coffee table while Tracie and I were relaxing on the couch. She was being awfully quiet as we all were supposedly watching TV. I sneaked a peek to see what she was doing just as I caught her putting her fingers in the bowl and then into her mouth to suck them. She smiled michievously at me with that sweet, little face to see if I would scold her. My brain said to tell her no but what came out of my mouth was "It's ok. You have fun." Tracie was flabbergasted. I turned to Tracie and justified with: "She's just a kid." How lame was that?
Lately, it's been the issue with time for bed. Normally, we would wisk her up to the bedroom before 9:00 to brush her teeth, change her clothes and get ready for bed. With just me doing the wisking during the week, the little squirt has found all kinds of way to keep from falling asleep before 10:00 and sometimes 11:00. If it's not "I want to watch Barney on the little TV" then it's "Dad, I have to eat something" or "I need a drink of water" or "Dad, I have to poop." The last excuse gets me every time. What am I to do? Say no and risk her really needing to poop and have an accident on the bed? Half the time, she ended up just sitting on the toilet dangling her feet back and forth while singing a song for 10 minutes. On those rare occasions when she actually needed to potty, she just pottied and then would say "Not yet" when I asked if she were finished. When we finally get to tbe bed and turn out the lights, I would find myself saying "Close your eyes and go to sleep" at least 20 times a night. Might as well record the phrase on a motion-activated MP3 player. Damn, I'm a softy.
Of course she still sleeps in the bed with us, despite our vow to make her sleep in her own bed as soon as she turned 1 year old. I tried a few times to leave in her room but invariably, one of us (mainly me) would retrieve her out of addiction of her company or from her pitiful cry. After all, she has slept in the bed between us since the first day we brought her home. Now, our excuse is that she is too old to sleep in a crib. We need to sell it and buy a real bed for her before we can TRY to let her sleep alone. Excuses. Excuses. Plain pathetic!
And don't get me started about dinner. She won't eat anything but mac-n-cheese, ravioli, spaghetti or pizza. You would think the darn kid is 3/4 Italian. She won't eat anything green or any red meat. When she does eat, the meal would last 30 minutes to an hour trying to coax her to keep eating. As I watch her take a spoon or fork to scoop her dinner to her mouth and dropping most of it on the table of floor, my blood would boil from being impatient. Half the time, I ended up just feeding her myself, despite my brain saying: "Don't spoil her. She needs to do this on her own." My excuse is that I'm too old to waste away waiting for Sydney to eat and there are only so many hours in a day. Life is too short to watch her eat a meal. Grass grows faster than that.
Somehow or another, I keep letting her get away with things I said I wouldn't let me kids do. Maybe if we have another kid, things would be different and I could be the stern disciplinarian I always envisioned myself to be? Doubt it. Pathetic!
Last Sunday, Sydney was enjoying a bowl of ice cream at the coffee table while Tracie and I were relaxing on the couch. She was being awfully quiet as we all were supposedly watching TV. I sneaked a peek to see what she was doing just as I caught her putting her fingers in the bowl and then into her mouth to suck them. She smiled michievously at me with that sweet, little face to see if I would scold her. My brain said to tell her no but what came out of my mouth was "It's ok. You have fun." Tracie was flabbergasted. I turned to Tracie and justified with: "She's just a kid." How lame was that?
Lately, it's been the issue with time for bed. Normally, we would wisk her up to the bedroom before 9:00 to brush her teeth, change her clothes and get ready for bed. With just me doing the wisking during the week, the little squirt has found all kinds of way to keep from falling asleep before 10:00 and sometimes 11:00. If it's not "I want to watch Barney on the little TV" then it's "Dad, I have to eat something" or "I need a drink of water" or "Dad, I have to poop." The last excuse gets me every time. What am I to do? Say no and risk her really needing to poop and have an accident on the bed? Half the time, she ended up just sitting on the toilet dangling her feet back and forth while singing a song for 10 minutes. On those rare occasions when she actually needed to potty, she just pottied and then would say "Not yet" when I asked if she were finished. When we finally get to tbe bed and turn out the lights, I would find myself saying "Close your eyes and go to sleep" at least 20 times a night. Might as well record the phrase on a motion-activated MP3 player. Damn, I'm a softy.
Of course she still sleeps in the bed with us, despite our vow to make her sleep in her own bed as soon as she turned 1 year old. I tried a few times to leave in her room but invariably, one of us (mainly me) would retrieve her out of addiction of her company or from her pitiful cry. After all, she has slept in the bed between us since the first day we brought her home. Now, our excuse is that she is too old to sleep in a crib. We need to sell it and buy a real bed for her before we can TRY to let her sleep alone.
And don't get me started about dinner. She won't eat anything but mac-n-cheese, ravioli, spaghetti or pizza. You would think the darn kid is 3/4 Italian. She won't eat anything green or any red meat. When she does eat, the meal would last 30 minutes to an hour trying to coax her to keep eating. As I watch her take a spoon or fork to scoop her dinner to her mouth and dropping most of it on the table of floor, my blood would boil from being impatient. Half the time, I ended up just feeding her myself, despite my brain saying: "Don't spoil her. She needs to do this on her own." My excuse is that I'm too old to waste away waiting for Sydney to eat and there are only so many hours in a day. Life is too short to watch her eat a meal. Grass grows faster than that.
Somehow or another, I keep letting her get away with things I said I wouldn't let me kids do. Maybe if we have another kid, things would be different and I could be the stern disciplinarian I always envisioned myself to be? Doubt it. Pathetic!
posted by DaddyEyeduck at 10:33 PM
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