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Can’t even think of a title

February 26, 2009 by Susanne 8 Comments

I just closed my feed reader rejoicing that there is not one post left unread in there. Marked unread, that is. I found – again – that the thought of not having read my bloggy friend’s posts was a heavy burden upon my shoulders. So I scrolled through some, commented on some others, and deleted the rest.

I know that I have subscribed to too many blogs, I really know, only I don’t know which to unsubscribe from.

This week was supposed to be a week of rest after months of sickness, and hectic life. It’s carnival break after all. Well, it started with – yet another bout of sickness which was thankfully brief, and now I find myself sitting lethargically at the kitchen table, knitting frantically without much enjoyment, drinking tea or beer, reading a book that I don’t particularly like, while the dirty dishes are staring at me, and dust bunnies accumulate in the corners.

Family life at the moment consists mostly of me and my son fighting over things like putting on clothes, or going to sleep. He isn’t good with transitions (is there anyone who is good with transitions?), I know that. But it’s really no fun that getting him to change his clothes is a 30 minute drama twice a day, complete with yelling, tears, howling, and tantrums.

I am a teacher, I know my pedagogy, and I have tried all the tricks and strategies I know. I have given up, sometimes, and dressed him myself only to have him yell at me because he wanted to do something else instead. I have tried the “do what you want, if you’re still in your pajamas by 8.15 you’ll wear those to kindergarten”-approach only to have a howling 6-year-old scrambling into his clothes at the last minute. Sometimes he has to go without breakfast because of the dressing debacle but he never went without his pants.

We have the same sort of conflict in the evening. Asking him to put on his pajamas, or any clothes results in him pulling down his pants, and then standing there staring into space for the next twenty minutes or so. The funny thing is that I remember being the same as a child, only I don’t remember any conflict. I remember that in third grade I realized that it often took me so long to put on my socks that my feet were ice-cold by the time I got around to it. Also I finally realized that taking such a long time to dress made me late for breakfast, and then I decided to learn how to dress myself faster.

So I totally understand having difficulties with transitions, and being slow in things like dressing, only the transitions don’t get easier by procrastination, they get harder, and more hectic. When, for a short time, using a timer my son had to beat was an effective method to remind him about the passage of time while dressing oneself, we found that it took him less than six minutes to dress himself. On any given day it takes him between 20 and 30 minutes while two adults nag him, and he whines, and we all get angrier by the second.

The other thing is his falling asleep, or better, his lack of falling asleep. Sleep has always been an issue with him. But there have been times when we could tuck him in, turn off the light in his room (not in the corridor, never in the corridor, and the door has to remain open), and go off to watch TV, or play music, or talk, or read blogs. Not anymore. For months at least somebody had to sit in the kitchen until he fell asleep. Which may take more than an hour. With him getting out of bed just when you thought he’d surely be asleep, asking you something, and then needing you to guide him back to bed because he is afraid to go back into his room even though the light on his nightstand is on.

To minimize anger throughout our family we devised a new tactic yesterday: I’m helping to put our son to bed but my husband will be the one sitting in the kitchen. So that I have the feeling of not being on duty 24/7. We only remind him once about changing into his pajamas, and such, and then he’s on his own. When he isn’t into his pajamas by 7.50 there will be no story-reading. Likewise I talked to him yesterday, and reminded him of the conflicts we used to have about washing hands before meals. At some point he just gave in, realizing (with a bit of help) that we always insist on washing the hands, and that if he just did it life became much more pleasant. I made a deal with him about the dressing and undressing. In the mornings my husband will stay in bed until we are finished with breakfast. He’s not a morning person, and having to eat breakfast while two people yell at each other ruins the day more effectively for him than for any of us. So he gets to stay in bed a little longer, and I get evenings off.

This morning my son fetched his clothes, and dressed himself without any conflict whatsoever. It took him 11 minutes. I felt an intense happiness. Until we started to fight about the “cutting of the fingernails because of recorder lessons” half an hour later.

Yesterday evening, by the way, ended with my son falling asleep next to my husband in our bed while watching soccer an hour after his bedtime. We’re working on it.

You might think that he needs less sleep, and that’s the reason why he can’t fall asleep but against that stands that a) he falls asleep in about 5 minutes when he’s sleeping in our bed, and b) on weekends he always sleeps at least half an hour longer than on weekdays even though he goes to bed at the same time.

Life’s not all confusion and conflict, though, on Tuesday I met a friend and we went to this very special sauna. It was very nice to meet my friend again, since we hadn’t seen each other for months, and the sauna was very relaxing.

I also finished a lot of knitting which I will get around to show you eventually, and finishing means that I can start new things. I made a hat, finished a shawl, a beret, a pair of mittens which make me very proud because I learned how to do two-handed stranded knitting for them, and two pairs of socks. Oh, and a cardigan.

And who knows, maybe my son will learn to dress himself without drama like he learned to wash his hands without drama. He’s an intelligent chap, he’ll figure it out eventually.

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Filed Under: family, life, parenting

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. lilalia says

    February 27, 2009 at 1:00 pm

    Reading your post was like walking down memory lane. Each and every single word could have been written by me ten years ago. Don’t expect any words of advice from me though; nothing can possibly help and each journey is unique. Good idea with the sauna. Too bad you can spend each day there (smile)!

    Reply
  2. Susanne says

    February 27, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    Lia, I’m always happy to find that I’m not the only one having problems like that. And I know (from experience) that this kind of problem keeps changing, and we’ll find solutions, and then they won’t work anymore, and then we’ll find new ones, and then they won’t be necessary anymore, and then there will be new problems.
    The one thing I didn’t know before having a child is how much this affects me. How every one of these conflicts feels like having a conflict with my husband.

    Reply
  3. Denguy says

    February 27, 2009 at 9:46 pm

    I got home last night to find both of my kids in bed with my wife all sleeping in a big pile.

    My wife’s always dressing the kids, too. When she’s not there, they do it themselves just fine.

    Reply
  4. de says

    February 27, 2009 at 10:44 pm

    Yes, I am chiming in to say I have had similar problems with both of my children, including finding solutions that only work for a short time. When it comes to sleep, Lorenzo is usually a reasonable person who goes to sleep when he is tired, but Fiona always fought it – that’s one of the reasons vacations are so difficult – neither one will go to sleep easily and then the days are spoiled by all of us feeling tired.

    Reply
  5. dievommond says

    March 2, 2009 at 3:45 am

    Hi, your RSS reader has so many blogs? May be you can give some advices, I would like to know more blogs….

    Reply
  6. Holly says

    March 2, 2009 at 6:55 am

    I am so happy that someone else experiences delight at having a cleared RSS feed. I thought I was so odd for feeling accomplishment (rare, but still) at this! 🙂

    Reply
  7. slouching mom says

    March 6, 2009 at 5:57 pm

    Yes! This used to be a huge issue for my Eleven.

    Perhaps I will write about this, and consider why it got easier for him over time (besides his growing older, which is a part of it, I’m sure).

    Reply
  8. Tina Hagen says

    March 8, 2009 at 3:56 am

    Reading your post and comments remember me that I am a mother of two children and I am not the only one having this probems with my oldest son. H e is 5 but a little bit with problems and I am so tired to take care of him but what can I say. Is my son . I want sometimes to be alone to don’t do the same rutine every day, to stay in the bed till I will feel I am sick of it.

    Reply

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