So this morning everyone sat in their high chair again with no problem. But once again “Mac” insisted on using his old bib, a cracked one that I’ve been trying to phase out of commission. He refused to wear the new one, and once again I let him know that there would be no waffles with no bib. This loving exchange of communication continued on for about 2 minutes until finally I blurted out, “No MAC you cannot wear the old one because it’s dirty!”
Silence…
“Ok new one mama.” And that was it. Technically this was my victory to claim, but I didn’t really feel so victorious. What was wrong with me? I pride myself in always communicating well with my kids. Why couldn’t I just give him a good reason as to why I wanted him to wear the new bib. Apparently, that was all he needed. Here I was thinking I was being so great, speaking in a calm voice, not letting the excitement escalate…when really, I wasn’t really COMMUNICATING at all. I was just kind of giving him a ‘because I said so’ in a calm voice.
So even though I guess I ‘won’, really, it was mama who really learned her lesson this time around…
lol…i think you won….don’t beat yourself over it. Mom’s have a tough job and sometimes you just have to raise your voice. Great, now everyone thinks I am a bad mom bc I raise my voice at kids, no I’m not…you guys underdstand, right ? Sigh…
i would hv probably let him keep the old bib.. let him upgrade when he is ready to, but then again, it would have probably had to be a show down sooner or later.
Welcome Daddy Mac…or should I say Mac’s daddy? Nice to see you reading up on things…I look forward to hearing more from you. Oh, and btw, we no longer use the green and red bibs 😉
It’s great that you picked up on what u were doing. Sometimes I get so frustrated and when im reflecting at the end of the day I feel bad when I’ve been too harsh and you can’t take back how you treated them. Today he got time outs all day long and when I was thinking about why he was acting this way I remembered that he’s recovering from a cold and I know I hate bring sick….imagine how he must feel especially when he can’t vocalize it.
You know, it’s funny you mention that because I was just noticing that over the last couple months I’ve started to lose my temper with them more and more. It wasn’t till I started ‘blogging’ that I really took a step back and started paying attention to when and why I do that. (Btw don’t forget I’m the one who never used to realize they were ‘teething’ until after the tooth popped out! I was never sympathetic to their ‘crabbiness’ till it was too late!)
he he he…I think we’ve all had to ‘raise our voices’ from time to time. Too bad my kids are completely not phased by it! They notice that its something different, but not different BAD! Not so effective…..