moms of toddlers or preschoolers, how are your LOs doing?

[majormajor]

my daughter seems to be having a really rough time these last few weeks, and i'm not sure what to do. i think the stress of baby's imminent arrival has a lot to do with it. she wants baby out, but she has a pretty good idea that things are going to change a lot. on top of that, she's perhaps the most emotionally aware person i've ever know. she's especially tuned into me. i'm trying to fake peace and calm in front of her, but she's not falling for it. besides, i'm doing a terrible job. i've cried in front of her twice this week, and today i cut myself pretty badly, which upsets her too. i feel like a horrible mother. we had a really big day today, and i know she was very tired and overstimulated by 9, but she just broke down and cried. i asked her if i could sing to her, or if there was anything she needed me to do, and she said 'no, i just need to cry for a few minutes.' and it just broke my heart.
and of course to make things even worse, i've lost my patience with her a few times, and i it makes us both feel horrible.

so, i was wondering if any other of the little ones are struggling? or moms of more than two, have you been through this before? what can i do to make this easier for my little girl??? i'm going to go crawl into bed with her now and snuggle her all night. well, i'll try, lately DH has been her nighttime go-to...

ok, bed. please help though!

[HerthElde]

We had a wonderfully, peaceful running household until about a week ago . . . now, my 2yo screams almost constantly, and my 4yo has been . . . um . . . argumentative and (I don't want to use the word "bratty" ) RUDE!

I do think it's something to do with the anticipation. I'm trying to maintain my inner peace throughout . . . because I know that if I enter labour in an adrenaline-rich place, the birth will be more difficult.

I remember reading recently in the Oak Meadow preschool stuff that children have a knack for mirroring our inner selves . . . so my inner chaos/impatience waiting for baby is actually being mirrored by my children's outer actions . . .

Hope your day is smooth tomorrow!!

[1babysmom]

Oh my gosh...the past few weeks have been the WHINIEST weeks of DD's life!! This is like toddler colic in another form! Seriously, it's been SOOOOO trying. And to top it off she wants to nurse CONSTANTLY so when I deny her that (it HURTS these days) then it just makes her MORE whiney. AHHHHHH!

[Jeannabna]

How do they know? I swear my dd is acting like theres a newborn in the house already. So moody and clingy. I feel awful for her cause shes bored. Finally no rain today so we'll get out but shes been stuck in the house with a lazy pregnant mom for weeks now. When I left the Dr last week she started yelling "no home mom! go to store!" Poor girl needs a sibling to play with lol.

[jennythx]

My DD is doing ok so far. She has been a little extra clingy to me, but keeps telling her baby brother to come out and play.

I think I feel more upset about it than she does. I feel so bad because we are stuck home nearly every day. Between me feeling like a beached whale and 100 degree temperature outside I just haven't been able to take her out for any good length of time. She must be so bored, heck I am going stir crazy myself. But I don't know what else to do. I figure it is only temporary and I will make it up to her soon.

[alegna]

Dd is swinging back and forth from being the sweetest, most cuddly angel-child on earth to dear god if she keeps that up....

sigh.

-Angela

[cj'smommy]

We're all out of whack here too.

My 2 year old has some sensory issues and has had a rough time for the last couple of months but in the last few days it seems to be worse. Well, it seems that way anyway. I'm not sure if it really is, or that I'm more irritable/tired and it's affecting me more. Plus because I am so tired I'm not working with him as much as I should be to keep him level, so I'm sure that has to do with it too. It's not hard to do, but it's constant and I just run out of energy. It's not fair to him though, so I need to direct what energy I do have to working with him.

My 5 year old is incredibly whiny too, and the more he whines the more the 2 year old pushes his buttons.

[Shanana]

nak

I posted almost this exact post a few weeks ago . It seems you guys at the end of the month are going through it now! Things have been much better since dd2 was born, so there's hope!

[NatureMama3]

*crazy* : very crazy!!

[*Melissa*]

DS is very confused... he knows there's a baby around and is simultaneously curious and jealous. I can see the hurt in his eyes sometimes and it breaks my heart that he doesn't understand (he's 21 mos). I'm giving him as much attention and praise as possible while trying to diffuse the "shove the baby off mommy" urge. Tonight was nice though, when he stroked the baby softly and said "nice baby" and they both fell asleep in my arms on the sofa.

Is there a closer moment to heaven?????

[MarchWillow]

There's not Melissa...those are some of the sweetest memories I have. I still go in and watch my 12yo when he sleeps, he's so peaceful when he's asleep...

Anyway-yet things are crazy here to. My youngest son is 4-and has been a rager these last few weeks. Luckily the anger issue seems to be gone, but he's clingy and chatty and very demanding of attn. We too are in CA and dealing with 100 heat that just appeared this last week...we've had NO transition, so it may as well be 200 degrees. Yesterday I took him to McD's for the playyard, in the air conditioning. That was just dumb. Everyother mom had the same idea, and the majority of them were chatting away on cell phones while their kids were being little @#$$$...I told one group of kids to please stop screaming. They were spitting soda at eachother and blood curdling top of lungs screaming. How can you hold a phone conversation in the midst of that? I wanted to slap that woman....

Today we bought a cheap kiddie pool from walmart. It's six feet across and two feet deep and we filled it half way. DH put up a sun shade over the pool, and got him some squirt guns. He is so sweet...he said he set me up for the week...and showed me a little bug catching cage he found (my son has been trying to bring in lady bugs cause he knows i like them, but hasn't had a spot for them other than his little hand)...and dh stashed a huge thing of 20+ pieces of sidewalk chalk. So thank God that should give me a little peace this week without the guilt. I've been doing kid movies and stories and anything low energy.

idk what im gonna do after baby comes. At least the older kids will be out of school in a couple weeks and can help with entertainment. Hopefully they don't get all clingy and bored too or idk what i will do....time to call in the family for some visitation rights aka: get these kids OUT. OF. HERE. lol

[majormajor]

hmm, so i can tell myself that acting out now makes the transition easier after baby's here? i'm going to tell myself that as i listen to "NO! i don't WANT to!!!" a thousand times this week.

[Killick]

Our oldest DD is doing great. But our DS is another story. He is fabulous with the baby, but he is yelling and backtalking to us. And throwing rocks at the house. That got him a time out because he almost broke a window when he did that.

When we had DS our DD #1 had major problems. They do go away though. So there is hope. Our best solution was to keep the routine the same. So, even though I am home with the baby during the day right now, the older 2 are still going to school and daycare. Makes things easier.