Today was rough. It was a clingy and chatty day for my son. It was like I had the TV on all day but never saw a thing. A constant stream of noise but none of it amounted to any substance. He ends all sentences with "Right?" and replies to all comments with "Why?" If I use the Mommy tune-out he will continue to repeat his statements until I acknowledge some recognition. My auto-pilot now includes random interjections of "yes", "that's right", and head shaking. I've tried several techniques for a little quiet but none of them seem to work. He follows me around while I do house cleaning, talks over the vacuum (and usually pulls out his extremely loud lawn mower to help with the job), he even talks between bites while eating. Naptime is usually the only peaceful time in this house and now those are lost since I have to nap myself. When he's home there's no time to myself.
I was blessed with a child that is motivated by mommy and daddy's approval. He has a STRONG moral compass and wants to make sure (every second) that he is on the right path and that he is thinking the right way or doing the right things. I know this but it still wears on me. I have tried answering his questions with questions rather than definitive answers. It seems to help but it takes more effort on my part and is very exhausting. On day's like today I can usually only muster up "Yes's" and "Uh huh's".
I have only 2 hours a day and 2 days a weekend to set, correct, and maintain proper behavior. It is a constant science experiment to see what is ACTUALLY going on. I know from my bachelors degree in child psychology (and watching a few episodes of Super Nanny) that almost all childhood problems stem from parenting. Fix the parents, fix the children. It's just really tough to do in 2 hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment