What's Your Biggest Little Struggle?

[ramama]

I know we all struggle, at some time or another, with discipline issues, nursing strikes, bedtime battles, family drama, etc...but I was wondering, aside from the biggies, what your biggest little struggle is.

Today, I am rearranging the girs' bedroom, and I have to say that it really annoys me that they don't every use toys for what they are for. Game pieces are used for something else, and then we can't play the game. Toys are mixed up. Playmobil is being used for god knows what. Puzzle pieces are used for block creations. It annoys me, although I try to keep it to myself, because I know it's great for their creativity and imagination. They also find a use for every little piece of trash. Heaven forbid you throw away the toilet paper tube, or the java jacket from a cup of coffee, or even the plastic that the plastic spork came in (which reminds me, don't ever get rid of a spork! LOL).

So, that's it. My biggest little struggle

[snoopy5386]

mine is lollygagging - I am always running late and she is always lollygagging when we need to get out the door. It is not a good combo. Almost every time we leave the house it is a fight....

[mom2happy]

Mine is noise. I have major sensory issues with sounds.
Kids are noisy! I have to do a lot of deep breathing around her with 3.
DD1 is a loud talker and DS has a major need to constantly have sound coming out of his head. If he isnt talking, he's whistling, playing the harmonica, singing, humming, or in his room listening to his Muppets cd about 4 times in a row.
He really does need to do it or he will explode. I, however need quiet for my mental health. About every hour I say "Please- a few minutes of quiet", so I can regain my sanity.

[mandalamama]

only one struggle with this kidlet, seems endless and hopeless ... she never picks anything up! even if she walks by a table and knocks something off of it with an elbow, it could be a loud crash or hit her in the leg and she's totally oblivious. she'll clean up if i start, or we help each other around the house, so i'm not totally off my rocker - yet. but how can she so blithely walk *on top of* toys, books or clothes and not know she's doing it?? this has been going on since she was 3-1/2! gotta pick my battles, she's a great kid in so many other ways. but OUCH i hate stepping on legos in the night!

[mizliz72]

Originally Posted by ramama

They also find a use for every little piece of trash. Heaven forbid you throw away the toilet paper tube, or the java jacket from a cup of coffee, or even the plastic that the plastic spork came in (which reminds me, don't ever get rid of a spork! LOL).

Oh my gods, you mean mine's not the only one? I was beginning to think she was doomed to be a hoarder when she grows up! I once found a bunch of ice pop wrappers under her bed and he reason? "I was saving them for if we do a craft"! They still had some liquid in them! She insists on saving wrappers from those dum-dum lollypops because we are supposed to collect them and get a prize. Makes me nutz! And mandalamama, mine never picks up either. She is GREAT at taking things out, then when it's time to clean up it's "too much" and she sits and whines. Those are two of my biggest "little things".

[Kuba'sMama]

Originally Posted by mom2happy

Mine is noise. I have major sensory issues with sounds.

mine too!
mine are like two old ladies... constantly blah, blah, blabbing! during meals, while brushing teeth its like they cannot exist without chatting for one second! at the end of the day i have a headache!
and the way they speak... aaagh!

"pretend...(we are in "long time ago")and then you..(are a cat)...and then... (batman walked into your house).....and then.....(you said- NOOOO)...chase scene follows...and then...(we put him in jail for cats and batmans)...and then....(harry potter came to the island)....and then...

[mamalisa]

Originally Posted by Kuba'sMama

"pretend...(we are in "long time ago")and then you..(are a cat)...and then... (batman walked into your house).....and then.....(you said- NOOOO)...chase scene follows...and then...(we put him in jail for cats and batmans)...and then....(harry potter came to the island)....and then...

I refuse to play pretend. I can't. I bake, I go to the park, I color, I dress and brush Barbies and babies, I play legos for hours. But I will not be "the boyfriend" and I will not fly a lego spaceship while you chase me through the house. I have ZERO imagination and it bores me to tears.

My biggest struggle is with dd and her room. She takes out every freaking toy she owns. Ds did this, but it was different. It was army men, cars and legos. Dd has barbies and polly's and kitchen and beads and it's 8 bazillionmillion tiny little pieces. No matter how much sorting and organizing I do, there's always every single piece back out because she uses them all together. It makes me crazy. I just close the door and insist on a path for bedtime.

[mamazee]

Until this school year, it was getting her to get herself ready on time for the bus. But amazingly this year dd (8) hasn't had problem one with that. It was a headache every morning last year, though.

I guess now it's getting her to come home from friends' houses at 6 for dinner. I got her a watch, but she seldom wears it. I can call and have people send her home, but really I wish she'd just keep track of the time and get home on her own. But this is not a big deal.

[Sierra]

Mine are still at the age during which the dentist has said that I should follow-up their teeth brushing by doing it too. They won't open their mouths. They are old enough to know better (and we've tried problem-solving it a million different ways), but they practically make me pry their mouths open...which also requires getting my hands on them and keeping them still. Urgh.

Also, my daughter has an issue with attention and it is hard to walk her through every step of what she is doing to keep her on track when we're trying to get out the door on time. I'm of course trying to get myself ready at the same time, so while I am brushing my teeth or hair or whatever, I ask her to please go get her shoes to put on (so I can...you know, like drop her off at school). She starts walking to the other room to get the shoes and finds 10 things on the way to get distracted about. A few minutes later I check back in and it is almost like I never asked her to get her shoes, "Get what? What do you want me to do? Get my *shoes*?" "Yes, please get your shoes." When she finally gets her shoes, somehow she just moves them to the coffee table or something. Or she carries them around while she does something else. So I say something along the lines of, "please stop what you are doing and put your shoes on" (because we're going to be late if it continues at this pace). And she is like, "What? Where are my shoes? Oh, they're here in my hands? What do you want me to do with them? Put them on? You want me to put my shoes on, mom?" "Yes, put your shoes on please." A few minutes later I check back in and they are still not on. I say, "remember, you need to put your shoes on." So she sits down to put them on and then she wiggles around and then goes to another spot and then her brother makes her laugh and she starts trying to make him laugh. And then I am like, "Honey, *shoes*! Please." So she wiggles and whines about how these shoes aren't the shoes she wanted but she didn't know where her other pair was. And then she gets up and seems like she is about to go off and do something else again so I am like, "Shoes, please." So she sits down again and she gets one on, and then we repeat the whole cycle for the other one. I've been around the block with a number of "solutions" to that one, but the kid can't control it. I feel badly for us both .

[mizliz72]

I should say that for the most part, DSD is pretty good kid, but she pushes my buttons (part of her "job" I hear tell). She'll pick up, but not whithout letting out a whine to let you know how unpleased she is about it, and no matter how much I organize her toys and her crayons/pens/pensils/markers (and she has enough to start a small school!), she just puts them away willy-nilly all mixed up. I put up some large Command Adhesive hooks on the side of her dresser to hang all her mardi-gras style beed necklaces (she has about 20) - found all of them in a heap on one of her shelves. It's just a pet peeve of mine. We have such a small amount of space (and don't get me started on all the American Girl Dolls her grandparents have bought her!) in our place, I try and try to keep it organized and picked up, but between her and her father....

[JustVanessa]

Ds1- wearing a coat. It is below freezing here now in the mornings when he has to get on the bus and he is always making a fuss about wearing a coat.

Ds2- hotwheel cars EVERYWHERE....lol I suppose he belongs in toddlers though.

[chattyprincess]

I so have sympathy to you moms with the little dds...mine is 4 and dear goodness the polly pockets and pet shops and strawberry shortcakes....im like really?? why does it need to be so *tiny*??? at least that issue got resloved with small "shoebox" sized rubbermaids...a box for each different type and I help "sort" them out every 2 months or so (same with all toys jsut to help make sure everything is where it should be so I don't hear the whining about how she cannot find xyz...
I also cannot stand the noise I must be really sensitive about noise but I love a nice peaceful house...my dh and dd on the other hand are SUPER loud talkers, love the tv on for background noise and basically drive me nutty...I live for the times dh is off to work because at leat then the tv is off...lol.

[madskye]

DD is five and has gone from being proud that she could dress herself to being adamant that she does not know how to put on or take off her pants. She wants me to do it. EVERY DAY AND EVERY NIGHT. I tried to talk to her about why she won't do it, why she is pretending she doesn't know. It is crazy! Today I had to pull down her pajama pants and put on her leggings--it's not like there are even buttons or zippers.

But, if I don't do it, she just cries and gets miserable. So every time I do it I narrate the actions and am trying to figure out how to motivate her back into being "a big girl" who dresses herself!

[sarahr]

I'm sitting here laughing because I think all of you live in my house. Especially Sierra -- my dd is 4 and it takes her *forever* to get her shoes on in the morning. When it was warmer, we just brought them to school and made it the teacher's problem.

The constant whining is my biggest issue. And it's not always whining for/about something -- she just needs to moan.

[bdoody11]

Originally Posted by snoopy5386

mine is lollygagging - I am always running late and she is always lollygagging when we need to get out the door. It is not a good combo. Almost every time we leave the house it is a fight....

This is us to a T!

[mooshersmama]

I am loving reading these! Mine is trying food. With just about any food, she'll automatically start shaking her head no, blocking her mouth with her arms, saying no thank you, no thank you. She won't even try it!!! Once we get her to take one bite, she'll generally keep eating. It's so frustrating.

[Sierra]

Originally Posted by sarahr

I'm sitting here laughing because I think all of you live in my house. Especially Sierra -- my dd is 4 and it takes her *forever* to get her shoes on in the morning.

Thanks for this . Misery loves company.

Originally Posted by madskye

DD is five and has gone from being proud that she could dress herself to being adamant that she does not know how to put on or take off her pants. She wants me to do it. EVERY DAY AND EVERY NIGHT.

I just want you to know you are not alone. My 4 and 5 year old both feign helplessness on a variety of things, including dressing, on a regular basis. It's not even like the idea of being a big kid is scary or overwhelming for them...we've never even said anything about being a big kid. It's just...dramatics or something.