I think we're in over our heads here...
It's always the same thing over and over and over again. DH has to travel a lot for work and will be gone somewhere between 1-2 weeks. Actually, as a family we travel a lot in general and try to go with many times but sometimes there's just not enough $$. So when he does go away the first few days are horrible. DD doesn't sleep, is constantly testing boundaries, much more aggressive etc. Then the exact same thing happens the second he gets back. Sure she is thrilled to see him but then it takes a number of days before she settles back into a usual routine.
Just as an example. DD first saw DH again yesterday and since then she's gone to bed somewhere between 1-2 hours later than normal (no matter what we've tried), she's also been constantly hitting/kicking us, and has been having significantly more tantrums. She'll also do things she knows she's not supposed to do (like draw on the floor, grab my kindle, etc.) and she's not eating as much either. We try and keep her routine as close to normal as possible (we don't have a schedule or anything but stuff still follows a general order) but it's just constant stress. DH passed out before DD even finally slept because he was so exhausted!
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Also.. DD is certainly going through a testing boundaries state in general. We've had a lot more tantrums as of late, and, well, her trying to do things that are definitely against the "rules" on purpose. I was thinking of picking up:
The explosive child
The out of sync child
Also, I heard playful parenting is good, but whose the author? When I went to my library they said there were two different books...
Any other suggestions would be great! DH and I both feel really overwhelmed at the moment. There was a huge meltdown after DD got upset today and tried to break DH's glasses! It was not pretty...
I also wanted to add... DH comes from a very authoritative family, so every time DD goes through these phases of acting out then he calls into question how we deal with DD saying we are too soft on her etc. I'm pretty exhausting because not only are we dealing with DD but then it's like we have to discuss all the reasons we are parenting the way we are... again. Anybody else have the same thing happen?
It's always the same thing over and over and over again. DH has to travel a lot for work and will be gone somewhere between 1-2 weeks. Actually, as a family we travel a lot in general and try to go with many times but sometimes there's just not enough $$. So when he does go away the first few days are horrible. DD doesn't sleep, is constantly testing boundaries, much more aggressive etc. Then the exact same thing happens the second he gets back. Sure she is thrilled to see him but then it takes a number of days before she settles back into a usual routine.
Just as an example. DD first saw DH again yesterday and since then she's gone to bed somewhere between 1-2 hours later than normal (no matter what we've tried), she's also been constantly hitting/kicking us, and has been having significantly more tantrums. She'll also do things she knows she's not supposed to do (like draw on the floor, grab my kindle, etc.) and she's not eating as much either. We try and keep her routine as close to normal as possible (we don't have a schedule or anything but stuff still follows a general order) but it's just constant stress. DH passed out before DD even finally slept because he was so exhausted!
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!
Also.. DD is certainly going through a testing boundaries state in general. We've had a lot more tantrums as of late, and, well, her trying to do things that are definitely against the "rules" on purpose. I was thinking of picking up:
The explosive child
The out of sync child
Also, I heard playful parenting is good, but whose the author? When I went to my library they said there were two different books...
Any other suggestions would be great! DH and I both feel really overwhelmed at the moment. There was a huge meltdown after DD got upset today and tried to break DH's glasses! It was not pretty...
I also wanted to add... DH comes from a very authoritative family, so every time DD goes through these phases of acting out then he calls into question how we deal with DD saying we are too soft on her etc. I'm pretty exhausting because not only are we dealing with DD but then it's like we have to discuss all the reasons we are parenting the way we are... again. Anybody else have the same thing happen?
