Listening to: All the Things You Said – Tatu
Mood: Tired, but ON
If there’s one thing that makes me lose my mom zen, it would
have to be whining. Seriously. All of the patience I have accrued in the last 8
some years from having kids gets flushed down the drain. Hello, I’m Becky and I’m
a yeller. This unproductive method of
discipline has been passed down from my grandparents, to my parents, to me. I’m
sure it will get passed down to my kids too – something I’m not proud of. I have been trying my best to tone it down a
little and stop losing my shit over every little small thing lately. The
problem for me is that I’ve been dealing with an extraordinary amount of
nonsense lately by myself with Daddy G out of town. Never one to deal well with
nonsense and drama, all the naughty stuff my kids do tends to get lumped into
the same irritating pile, instead of making a bigger deal out of stuff that
warrants it. I’m not trying to excuse my behavior (bad mommy!), because I
really should be trying a little harder.
When they start whining, it’s almost like a knee jerk
response. The first (loud) thing out of my mouth is “Quit ya whining!” I’m not
sure when exactly this started. Well, ok, that’s not entirely true. I do know.
All of this behavior started when we moved into our new place in Bangalore in
January. It started small with my kids whining to my husband whenever they
wanted sympathy or needed a parent who was slightly softer. They know better
than to whine to me for sympathy, because I literally have to sit on my hands
so that I’m not chucking things at them. Also, almost knee jerk. Almost. I tried nipping this in the bud.
Unfortunately for me, the hubs never saw this as a problem. It was almost cute.
Cue the twitching from me. You don’t have to listen to it all the time. Well,
this epidemic has grown and developed into an epic problem, one I’m not
entirely sure how to stop. My kids were
never really much into whining, for which I’m grateful. The eldest was more of
a screaming, tantrum throwing monster, the younger, well, was pretty zen about
life and just asked for what she wanted.
My tactic is mostly to ignore what they’re trying to tell me
and remind them that if they ask me politely, I would be willing to listen.
Otherwise, my ears automatically close to block out all this atrocious noise. They usually aren’t amused, but they usually
give in right away and talk politely. I have always hated listening to other
people’s kids whine. And like many other things I swore I would never let my
kids do, this one has happened. Why yes, I would like a slice of humble pie.
Thanks for asking. What gets irritating to me is when every little thing comes
out of their mouths in a whiney tone, even though I’ve asked them
eleventy-billion times to knock it the heck off. If you by some act of nature or luck have a
kid that you successfully taught not to whine after they were two, my hat is
off to you as a super parent. Having a stubborn 8 year old that decided that
whining was a viable strategy for sympathy is enough to make you bat shit cra-zay.
Of course, her little copycat sister can’t help but decide that her sister is
the ultimate source of knowledge and this much be a great way to behave. I’ve
mentioned (and really, was only half joking) about mashed potatoes in the ears.
I am craving them now, only for the whining instead of the noise level.
Unfortunately, I’m too lazy to get up and make mashed potatoes right now. India
doesn’t have boxed potatoes people (not that I eat those anyhow), and mashing
potatoes takes some serious arm effort.
I would love to hear any ideas that you have successfully
implemented that stopped the whining. At least throw me a bone and reassure me
that if I stick to my guns, the behavior will eventually die out.
Becky
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