Well, except that he's nearly 3.
Today has been an ENTIRE day of "no" and deliberate defiance. I have been trying very hard to remind myself that he lacks impulse control, but today it has been all about outright defiance. He may not touch the laptop b/c he is rough with it and, well, it's annoying. So I limit my time online while he is awake. However, he refused to nap today (he's starting to drop the nap altogether, but can't quite make it through the day without issues yet) so he's extra ... everything.
I needed to check on something online. It should have taken me 2 minutes, literally. I couldn't do it without his hands banging on the keyboard. I asked him several times not to do it. We were even outside at the time, b/c I figured if I put his bike helmet on him he could ride around and be distracted for the two minutes I needed, and then we could play. Nope. Even that didn't work. I got so angry I sent him inside to his room and told him I would come in when he was quiet. That took awhile. Mind you, this is just now, after an ENTIRE day of getting nothing done b/c he just couldn't leave me to do what I needed to do. Folding one load of laundry and putting it away took me a half hour with him "helping." I can't go through entire days that way. I just can't.
He wouldn't calm down. I finally got him quiet enough to come in, and he said he was tired. I said it was b/c he didn't nap and maybe we should lie down together. He said okay, but by the time we got to his room (15 seconds later) he didn't want to lie down anymore. Didn't want to watch TV. I said fine, I'm going to. He came and laid down with me in front of the TV. That lasted 5 minutes before he started tickling my feet. Which I hate. I told him, "I don't like that. Please stop." Exact words he uses when he doesn't want to be tickled anymore. We practice it all the time b/c his grandfather has trouble stopping when the tickling needs to stop.
He wouldn't stop. I have tried talking to him after each incident about respecting other people's bodies, about being a good listener, about why it's important to listen to Mommy, etc. None of it is getting through. I'm only able to type this now b/c I locked him in his room. Yes, that's right. I did it. I'm not at all proud of it, but I had to. B/c otherwise, I'd still be livid, and at best screaming my head off at him.
I'm typing as fast as I can, so I can get him out of his room. I don't want to leave him in there, but this was sadly the most gentle solution I could find in the heat of the moment given how the rest of the day has gone. I am miserable. WTF am I doing wrong that I have to lock my child in a different room just so I can have 2 minutes to think to myself? How else am I supposed to handle not situations, but DAYS like this, where it's the same from morning to night?
(Yes, we get out of the house and that helps. But if I'm out all day every day, no one eats, laundry doesn't get done and the house is a wreck. The floor hasn't been mopped in a month b/c I'm already taking him out of the house so much I don't have time. Just as I was getting the clutter under control, he stopped napping and now, in a matter of days, it looks like a tornado hit. And it's all DH's and my stuff, not his. His toys got put away on Friday and they have been put away since, b/c he's not interested in playing with them. He just wants to be into everything else in the house instead. UGH)
Today has been an ENTIRE day of "no" and deliberate defiance. I have been trying very hard to remind myself that he lacks impulse control, but today it has been all about outright defiance. He may not touch the laptop b/c he is rough with it and, well, it's annoying. So I limit my time online while he is awake. However, he refused to nap today (he's starting to drop the nap altogether, but can't quite make it through the day without issues yet) so he's extra ... everything.
I needed to check on something online. It should have taken me 2 minutes, literally. I couldn't do it without his hands banging on the keyboard. I asked him several times not to do it. We were even outside at the time, b/c I figured if I put his bike helmet on him he could ride around and be distracted for the two minutes I needed, and then we could play. Nope. Even that didn't work. I got so angry I sent him inside to his room and told him I would come in when he was quiet. That took awhile. Mind you, this is just now, after an ENTIRE day of getting nothing done b/c he just couldn't leave me to do what I needed to do. Folding one load of laundry and putting it away took me a half hour with him "helping." I can't go through entire days that way. I just can't.
He wouldn't calm down. I finally got him quiet enough to come in, and he said he was tired. I said it was b/c he didn't nap and maybe we should lie down together. He said okay, but by the time we got to his room (15 seconds later) he didn't want to lie down anymore. Didn't want to watch TV. I said fine, I'm going to. He came and laid down with me in front of the TV. That lasted 5 minutes before he started tickling my feet. Which I hate. I told him, "I don't like that. Please stop." Exact words he uses when he doesn't want to be tickled anymore. We practice it all the time b/c his grandfather has trouble stopping when the tickling needs to stop.
He wouldn't stop. I have tried talking to him after each incident about respecting other people's bodies, about being a good listener, about why it's important to listen to Mommy, etc. None of it is getting through. I'm only able to type this now b/c I locked him in his room. Yes, that's right. I did it. I'm not at all proud of it, but I had to. B/c otherwise, I'd still be livid, and at best screaming my head off at him.
I'm typing as fast as I can, so I can get him out of his room. I don't want to leave him in there, but this was sadly the most gentle solution I could find in the heat of the moment given how the rest of the day has gone. I am miserable. WTF am I doing wrong that I have to lock my child in a different room just so I can have 2 minutes to think to myself? How else am I supposed to handle not situations, but DAYS like this, where it's the same from morning to night?
(Yes, we get out of the house and that helps. But if I'm out all day every day, no one eats, laundry doesn't get done and the house is a wreck. The floor hasn't been mopped in a month b/c I'm already taking him out of the house so much I don't have time. Just as I was getting the clutter under control, he stopped napping and now, in a matter of days, it looks like a tornado hit. And it's all DH's and my stuff, not his. His toys got put away on Friday and they have been put away since, b/c he's not interested in playing with them. He just wants to be into everything else in the house instead. UGH)
We're just getting into this stage ourselves... (Definitely much worse when he's tired, and I'm feeling like DS is getting ready to drop his nap too. 
)
