tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28215115.post7591825453552182696..comments2023-04-02T05:31:10.149-04:00Comments on Adventures in Self-Reliance: Fair weather momJoseehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04521839221250036193noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28215115.post-45210373902432001582010-07-21T13:29:14.763-04:002010-07-21T13:29:14.763-04:00Stacy, I think you may be ready for Anne Lammott&#...Stacy, I think you may be ready for Anne Lammott's Operating Instructions. It saved me from beating myself up too severely with my firstborn. <br /><br />Tracey: I like how you can still "see" your daughter through all the madness. I'm working on that. Fiona is a hoot when I can look past the exhausting and maddening job of keeping her safe. And, the potty thing ... my son was the same way and is just now starting to go poop on his own without us begging him. He's 3.5 and we started potty training A YEAR AGO! Sometimes it just needs to be their idea (especially when it's a little boy).Joseehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04521839221250036193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28215115.post-10806155990947258742010-07-21T10:50:31.597-04:002010-07-21T10:50:31.597-04:00Lord knows I can't offer any advice here, but ...Lord knows I can't offer any advice here, but I *can* say I understand and feel just as fair-weather as you do, and I offer an online hug (transferable to a real hug next time I see you).<br /><br />Also? If you find some gypsies offering a good price, let me know. ;)Stacyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07432730183294385782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28215115.post-8087655562493554662010-07-21T10:42:31.680-04:002010-07-21T10:42:31.680-04:00Josie, I'm right there with you. I am starting...Josie, I'm right there with you. I am starting to think it's a second child/middle child thing. Lily has one volume - LOUD. Since turning 3, she has started yelling demands at me, "Get me my jammies NOW!" (Umm, excuse me???) She throws the world's largest tantrums and will not break when she doesn't get her way. (She cried at the lunch table yesterday for 30 minutes because I would not sit and hold her hand while she ate...I was using my hands to feed myself and the baby...God forbid we eat!) For awhile she has had an issue where if we don't carefully watch her diet, she gets constipated...and then she holds her poop in, afraid to go because she thinks it's going to hurt. I thought we were finally past this problem...we hadn't had a bout of constipation in awhile...and then it reared its ugly head again this week...the struggling not to poop in her pants, forcing her to the potty, sitting for 30 minutes while she refused to go. And then in the midst of all this, my mom came over for a visit. I told her she couldn't see Mema until she pooped. Immediately she pooped and I realized that this has become another way for her to exert her control...she can go anytime she wants to...and she really isn't afraid it will hurt. (We had offered other rewards, but apparently hadn't found anything that meant enough to her....I have now resorted to consequences when she refuses to go.) She is absolutely maddening...and yet, absolutely adorable and completely hilarious. It is so hard to stay mad a her because she's already has perfect comic timing...we often have to turn away to keep from giggling....and she's a master cuddler. <br /><br />Bill Cosby said, "Children will consistently do the exact opposite of what you tell them to do, and our job is to love them anyway." :) I guess that's really the key.<br /><br />It's such a comfort to know someone else is in the trenches with me...and that my maybe my kids aren't crazy after all. :)Traceyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340247992990896556noreply@blogger.com