An Ode to Macy Day June 30, 2006
Posted by spacemom in : Kids, I dream of sleep , trackback
I was reading about Macy’s terrible day last night. I felt terrible for Elizabeth. This was while the girls were watching TV before books and bed.
I never quite describe Luna’s hellion ways. They really only come out at night. During the day, sure, we have some temper tantrums, but once the jammies are on and ready for bed, only then does Linda Blair arrive at our house.
Dr. Jay and I dread bedtime. The girls are amazingly great during the day. Polite, they need to listen, but what kid doesn’t? However, that damn bedtime.
Last night was my turn for Luna. It started poorly. After teeth were brushed, we went to hug Daddy. She started to kick me screaming "Daddy" the whole time. Then we went to her room. I shut the door and we went to snuggle in the comfy chair. "NO NO NO I NO WANT YOU I WANT DADDY"
I sat down, held the piece of deadwood in my arms as she arched her back and screamed. This is not an ordinary scream, no siree. We called her the Nazgul from Lord of the Rings when she was an infant. This was a scream that reverberated in my eardrums. I could hear it 10 minutes later. Or was it that she was screaming 10 minutes later. I finally calmed her enough to rest in my arms. Then she wanted her fan on. But SHE had to do it.
We got her light off, fan on, music on, and then she decided she wanted her shoes on. Or she wanted to poop on the potty (I told her to use her diaper, she didn’t like that answer) or she wanted a different pacifier. Or she wanted baby Emmy. or she wanted…you get the drift. I finally placed her in bed. It works like this: I snuggle her close, her breathing is still and deep, I hold her so her body is only resting on my arms, then I stand, I rock for 10 seconds. She is still in her deep repose. Then I start to bend to her mattress and she becomes stiff as a board screaming "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO I WANT DADDY"
We go through it again, except last night, she did her I want to pull mommy’s hair. OMG, I HATE THAT. I told her I was leaving the room because she was hurting me.
I left for 5 minutes. She stood at the threshold (she can open her door, but we put a pressure gate up when she is like this) and screamed for 5 minutes, only stopping to breathe once.
This was followed by me going back in "NO MOMMY I WANT DADDY" "sorry kiddo, screaming for Daddy means NO Daddy. You can’t scream for what you want"
She then proceeded to throw things at me.
1) Books
2) After trying to get her sneakers on over her footed sleeper, she threw her shoes at me
3) Her Baby Emmy
4) The Diaper Genie.
Yes, you read that right, my 2 year old hellion picked up the Diaper Genie to throw at me. Fortunately, it was full, so it landed on her foot (which pissed her off more).
Everything she threw at me got tossed out the door of her room. At this point, I was sitting on the floor with my back to the door so Soleil could MAYBE get some sleep.
She rushed me and pulled my hair again. She actually took some out. Finally, she collapsed on the floor kicking and screaming. I said "when you are ready for bed, go to the chair and I will help you go to bed"
In 10 minutes of kicking and screaming, she picked herself up, got her blanket and said "Mommy, I ready for bed"
She was asleep 10 minutes after that. Bedtime started at 8, ended at 9:45. I promptly poured myself a drink (a rarely drink) and ended up with 2 more shots than I should have (eh, what’s a 5 shot drink if you have a night like this) and promptly crashed after I finished the drink.
So Elizabeth- You are not alone. Spirited children are alive and well in my house…
Trust me!
Comments»
Wow, I feel for you, that sounds really, really hard. And I would have promptly poured a drink too. Sending you huge hugs.
I admit, our bedtime routines didn’t go quite so badly, but they took just as long, and left me just as exhausted at the end of it. So I ditched the bedtime routines, and just let her go to bed when she wants. Sometimes she falls asleep on the sofa watching a movie. But she doesn’t bug me and I get to sit and relax for a bit. It isn’t “me time”, but it’s alot better than spending the whole night trying to get her to bed.
Anyways, that isn’t really the same situation you are dealing with, but it’s my long-winded way of saying “I hear ya, sister!”
Oh, I feel for you and Elizabeth too. I also have a highly spirited child who is showing a renewed resurgence in big temper tantrums. I mean big. She is at this moment screaming her lungs out at me in a rage because I had the nerve to turn off cartoons. Ugly.
I personally think there is something to these highly spirited kids. They are in some ways just a little more of everything. More loud, more active, more smart, more to deal with on a daily basis. It can be very tiring for parents.