Sometimes as a mother I feel like Dr. Frankenstein when he shouts, "it's alive!". It seems that despite my best intentions I often create my very own monsters. Like when Luke was little and refused to feed himself. From the time he started eating solid food I always feed him, and I kept doing it because it was faster and cleaner if mom did the job instead of letting the little one. Then one day when he was 3 years old I wanted him to feed himself and he wouldn't. Yep, a monster. I've created another with Noah who at 3 1/2 he won't go to the bathroom by himself. Again it has been cleaner and faster for me to help him and make sure that things get done the right way (my way) then to let him do it himself. Now no matter what, he won't go into the bathroom and go by himself because he wants me to help. Yep, another monster.
The latest monster I have created is Elijah, the swaddle monster, and Momma's boy. I started swaddling Eli the very day we brought him home from the hospital, and now he cannot sleep at night unless he is tightly wrapped up. A couple of weeks ago I tried to just lay him in bed and let him sleep with blankets on him. Lets just say that we spent two nights with a screaming baby. Finally Rick just said, "please just swaddle him and lets get some sleep." I guess as long as Elijah has nice mission companions who will take the time each night to swaddle him, he will be fine.
I have also completely spoiled this boy so much and spent so much time holding, playing, and kissing him that he now refuses to be put down. He doesn't really even like anyone else to hold him. He pretty much doesn't even like his dad. This is Elijah the other day when I made him sit and play while I ate lunch and did the dishes. Here he is at 35 minutes and counting of pure screaming. I don't mean crying or whining. I mean SCREAMING! I get so frustrated with him crying if I am not holding him, and my mom just reminds me that he is what I have made him!!!!
Here's hoping I can tame my little monsters!!!!!
14 comments:
UGH. Mom's are so great at letting you know that it's all your fault too huh? :) I have to smile though, I am fighting my own monsters here and yep-they are all my making too.
It will get better, Greg never calls me or wants to me to hold him any more!!
Dixie
I love reading your posts. You are such a good writer and it is fun to hear about your family thru your writings. I love it!! I love the picture of Eli being swaddled - he looks so cute! Hayden is the complete opposite, he kicks the blankets off as soon as he can! He doesn't like to be covered. Funny kids!!
haha ha ha ha ha... haha ha haha ha ha... ha ha haha ha ha!!! There's a reason no one tells you the fine details of being a mother!
Frankenstein was not as cute as your monsters, though...Don't worry, I'd rather them be spoiled monsters than abandoned little kids who have no attachments at all. Eli will grow out of it (probably not the swaddling) if you just keep letting others take care of him. He was fine with me when I was there - just needs to hang with a different crowd now and then!
Good luck with the monsters. I sure miss them!
Oh I love those little monsters, all of them!!!! I, too, have a monster. He's a church monster! I prided myself on the fact that the child would put himself to sleep at such an early age, and now I can't ever even hold him or rock him to sleep or anything! And, on top of it, I made him play by himself all the time and now he never wants to sit on his momma's lap and play!!! The things we do when we think we are actually helping them! Hopefully it will get better soon, just start feeding him and see......
Aw, just wook at dat cute widdow face. . . all swaddled and happy.
I've created a few monsters myself. Anytime my kids develop some annoying habit I wonder if it was me or if I should have done something different. Parenting each child is so hit and miss sometimes. I wish they came with instruction manuals.
Best of luck with your adorable little monsters!
They come in all shapes and sizes. Life is seriously what we make of it. If you try to have the cleaned most sterile house in the land some little germ creeps in on your kids clothes from school or crawls up the stairs from the hundreds of children that enter the studio and sooner or later you make FIVE trips to the doctor in one week.
hahaha! I was laughing out loud when I read your comment about Eli's mission companions! You're hilarious!
I miss hanging out - seriously! I'm looking forward to hopefully meeting up in St. George!
We are all there with you Olivia! Cam now has washing hands OCD from his germ-a-phobe mother. I made him wash his hands all the time when he started feeding himself so he wouldn't get sick. Now he thinks he has to wash them 100 times a day and cries if I don't wash them! Hopefully they will grow out of it soon.
You always just tell half of the story--I tell you that you can't expect him to want to be put down when all you did for 6 months was hold him and coo and kiss him--that's what he still wants! I have also told you many times that there will be a day when you wish you had him wanting you to hold him--I like Aunt Dixie--miss my little boy's hand on my cheek when he got sleepy and miss lots of things my little ones did that they don't even remember--and they don't need their mothers any more nor do they want their advice!
I swaddled both my babies and there is something to look forward to. They do grow out of it! I love it though. It is part of the nightly routine for my babies to help them know it's time to go to sleep. Aubrey kind of still gets swaddled. I'd call it a half swaddle with arms out. The routine helped both of them go down awake without a fuss.
I hope your little monster grows out of it and won't have to go through it with his mission companion. :)
The only way I could get my Olivia to sleep was by swaddling her. It is a shame that we as mothers form habits in our children that come back to bite us. They do eventually get over it, but not without frustration and heartache on our part. I've had to "lighten up" on the cleaning expectations in order to allow my children the opportunity to clean. It's easier for me to do it and I do it better, but what am I teaching them. I never let them see me reclean the bathroom they have just cleaned. Imagine what that would do?!
You have the cutest little monsters I have ever seen! Glad to see you guys are doing well. Good luck with your home, I guess frustrating would be putting it mildly?
Post a Comment