The last week has averaged at least an hour a day (often more) of solid tantrum from L. How does she keep it up for so long? What do I do when she starts hitting me, kicking me, pulling my hair and screaming in my face? Or worse, doing it to the boys?
It’s completely unpredictable what will set her off, so it’s virtually impossible to head her off. On Monday it was because she wanted some oat cakes she’d spotted in the car on the way to the boys’ sports session, nothing else would do, and she spent the entire hour sitting on my lap screaming that she wanted oat cakes (having said that, she did get a chair for me to sit on so that she could sit on my lap 😆 because I couldn’t hold her up any more and she wanted to be carried; I couldn’t put her down because she was trying her best to climb up my legs!) – then when the boys came out she was fine and played with them quite happily 🙄 That was in the morning. In the evening she did another big rant because I offered the children a choice of soup or risotto and she wanted pasta. When I’d finally managed to get soup made (stepping over and round her when necessary as she was lying on the floor clinging to my legs) she ate it quite happily and came back for seconds. *sigh*
That kind of set the pattern for the week. It doesn’t help that J is ill, so exceedingly fragile and responding to every little thing in a totally ott way 🙁 The best thing though, is that L has started coming back into bed with us again and then has to be cuddled up to mummy (daddy will not do), preferably with an arm around my neck and her face touching mine, then if I try to turn over (which I do quite frequently now, as my hips start to seize up, especially when she is there so I can’t sleep in the positions I prefer) she screams blue murder, pulls me back, clambers over me etc etc 😥 So Bob and I are both exhausted too :wall:
I’m trying my best to be patient, because I appreciate that things are all a bit unsettled for her atm, with new baby on the way, big brother shrieking at her for the slightest thing, we’ve just been away on holiday and so forth, but I’m really not sure how to handle this; neither of the boys did the tantrum thing and none of the tactics we used to use on L seem to work just now. A friend has at least been pointing out that when she is older and puts her mind to doing something she’ll be able to use that amazing tenacity to get to the top!
Tbh, I kept expecting her to come down with something too, because that was the only time the boys used to behave anything like this, but she’s just as healthy and cheeky as ever – meanwhile I feel like death warmed up and keep finding myself withdrawing from the situation, which I know really doesn’t help; I just can’t cope with this right now 😥
Sorry – I’ll shut up and go to bed now. Couldn’t go earlier, despite being exhausted, because Bob was trying to settle L again, after she decided 11 was a good time to wake up and start shouting…
7 thoughts on “Excuse me while I scream!”
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Sounds exhausting … really hope you got some sleep after that blog post.
Oh Dear, that sounds dreadful, not really got anything useful to say though. Hope it soon passes.
Mmm… Amelie went through a phase of that and it was EXTREMELY tiring. i wasn’t pregnant though (or maybe i was, i forget) and i actually got reduced to carrying her upstairs, rolling her in a duvet and holding her still till she calmed down. The only thing that seemed to work was being consistently unimpressed and un accommodating. Well, that and picking my battles and just giving in sometimes.
With Josie i’ve given up trying to exert my will back – i just give in. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is a phase, you can’t alter it and you might as well all just get through it as painlessly as possible!
Sounds very tiring for all of you. Hope it improves soon, but I’m sure it is indeed ‘just a phase’ tough as it is to be in the middle of it.
ugh! I remember doing the duvet thing with Aprilia (or coat if we were out) but she was younger then L then so easier to haul off somewhere and deal with. HOpe this passes soon for you!
I totally sympathise. E is just like this, and violent with it, hitting me, punching me, kicking me, throwing things at me when things don’t pan out the way she would like them to. I find it sooooo tiring, just the trying to remain calm and patient in the face of such horrible behaviour is so hard. If she is just loud and not actually violent then I tend to just try and ignore her after maybe two attempts at dicussing it with her (then will talk to her about it much later on) if she is being truely horrid then I’ll put her in her room (more for her own safety than anything) never as a punishment, always as a “you need time to calm down and so do I”. Although even that doesn’t seem to help at the moment, she’s started kicking the door of her room until I come up to see her. I keep repeating the matntra its just a phase, but I wish I had some way of being able to help her cope with her own frustration. She has always been like it in some form or other, which also has the positive side of high motivation, witty spark and self assurance. Hard to remember those things when they’re being horrible though!
Much sympathy. F has very similar moments. eg
F: There’s a ball over there.
Me: Oh yes (because I have to reply to every comment).
F: No! It’s there isn’t a ball.
Me: OK, there isn’t.
F (purple in the face, screaming with rage): YES, THERE IS.
It’s just a phase but boy is it a long one!