I hope you guys are enjoying a great weekend! We’ve sort of had a wacky weekend… and by wacky, I mean that my kids have been wacky!
It’s becoming more and more obvious that they are deeply effected by change in routine. WHEW! As my Facebook followers probably remember, we had to make a quick 6 hour each way trip so I could attend the funeral of a childhood friend. We spent 2 nights at my mom’s house and then got back Friday afternoon. It was exhausting! I took a nap when we got back, the kiddos had gotten some kind of tummy bug and ALL had runny bathroom issues (which made the drive back seem to take FOREVER!) and so they were kind of “off”, too.
We woke up kind of early on Saturday for a Girl Scout event for my daughter. My husband took my middle son to a local museum that had a huge shark exhibit going on since he is OBSESSED with them. From the start of the day, my daughter threw fits and acted horribly! ARGH! I dropped her off at the event (I had planned on staying, but the event was very full and our troop had 2 volunteers there already) and took my youngest to the store with me. We had just enough time to get the groceries and bring them home to put them up before we were picking the DD up again.
Once we got her, I decided to be a fun mom and head out to Target with them and let them eat in their little cafe area (which I *never* let them do!) and then I needed dipes, training pants (I’m trying to train the 2 year old, so I wanted both on hand and we were running really low). We also checked out the toy clearance and I picked up a few things. Lastly, we went to the shoes area and DD picked out some sparkly red shoes (typical for her! This is her 4th or 5th paid similar to this), little guy picked out some Crocs, and we got another pair for my oldest son but they ended up not fitting as I found today. :-/
From this point on, my kids started acting up. Grace was being defiant, not listening in the least, and running around like a weird kid. Frustrated, when we got home, I told her she couldn’t have any of her stuff. She makes me feel so defeated sometimes. She is very ungrateful and really feels entitled to things. I’m tired of catering to her life to give her opportunities, such as with Girl Scouts, or this fun shopping trip, or even just letting her pick something out at the grocery store. She doesn’t seem to appreciate ANYTHING and I’m just so tired of it!
Hubs got home quite a bit later with my oldest son and they’d had a good time. He had been good all day, so he got to play some video games while DD did not. She eventually started up with back talking, throwing tantrums, and acting awful which had her going to bed early! UGH!
Today hasn’t been a ton better. We were going to go to IKEA to check out dressers for my sons…. drove out there, stood in line to drop the older 2 off in their little daycare area, dropped them off, and within 5 minutes got called back. Michael decided he would pout, act like a baby, and stand in the corner completely unresponsive. He took off his security tag thing they keep on the kids and refused to let them replace it and was just being a brat. SO AWFUL. Soooooooo owe just loaded everybody up and left. You know, after getting lost in the parking lot because we had no idea where we’d parked 10 minutes prior. lol
I feel like cancelling all the fun. If they can’t act like decent kids, what’s the point? 🙁 On the other hand, if they aren’t thrown into situations, how do they learn?
Any tips or advice?
Some days/weeks are just like this. I have found (with my older two ages 13 and 6) that while tempting to take away ALL the fun/privileges, that can backfire. You said they had been sick and while the physical symptoms may be gone they may not be completely “over” it. They may still be tired from the trip. There really can be any number of things that can effect behavior. When I get frustrated it helps me to remind myself that they are kids not little adults.