Tuesday, September 05, 2006

There are three things going on in my mind right now

First thing… we’re back to work. Which in many ways should have been a good thing. It was supposed to give me a life outside of the house (which I really enjoy). AND… it was supposed to give Iman a chance to release her energy in a playful, fun and safe environment.

Unfortunately none of that happened.

School started, but daycare won’t be available until the 11th. Which means that Iman is with me all day. So here I am, with a load of work to do, lots of staff meetings to attend. Classroom to set up, worksheets to prepare… and Iman tagging along through it all.

My entire day goes by running after her, running to the bathroom or trying to feed her. I’m really far behind in my work, which is making me stress out.

Second thing… I’ve cursed myself. Yesterday after Iman was asleep, I was telling Omair that we’re really lucky to have such a cooperative kid. She took really well to the second round of potty training. In fact now, we were totally accident free and she was telling every time! And, even bigger… we shifted her to her own bed (yes, previously she was sleeping with us, I know… tsk tsk tsk). So here I was… boasting about our achievements. How we conquered potty training and managed to make sleep-time independent.

BUT… it was as though some evil force was just waiting for me to gloat.

Today, she flipped!! Not only have we had 4 accidents (all in the same day), she’s also refusing to get into her own bed (even though she was sleeping in it for the past week, and really enjoying the new “big girl” treatment).


Now the third thing… Omair is in the room right now with Iman, and she’s screaming bloody murder! She doesn’t want to sleep. I was in there with her, but she started making excuses. First, she said she wanted to sleep in our bed. Then she said she wanted a story, then she said she wanted me to lie next to her… The list continues. So I gave her a warning. We do this at bed time. I sit in the room with her (reading) and she’s supposed to sleep. If she dilly dallies or refuses to settle down, she gets a warning, and if the behavior continues, I leave the room. In turn, she decided that she was going to cry her lungs out. And Omair had to go in to settle things down. Obviously they aren’t settling. She’s crying, and I’m sitting here wondering if I should just let her sleep with us. Why does being firm make me a good mother? Why can’t I take the easy road and give in?

Ok, please don’t answer that.

6 Comments:

At 11:09 PM, Blogger Blogger said...

I won't answer your question, because I know you know the correct answer perfectly well yourself.

But I did want to ask you one thing: you school lets you take Iman into work with you??!?!

By the way: Helloooooooo. Thanks very much for your email. I'll reply to it as soon as I can. Best wishes to O.

 
At 12:25 AM, Blogger Lorraine said...

I'm telling you, saying it out loud is the surest way to reverse whatever it is you're celebrating. Best to just be silently happy, otherwise it tempts the Fates.

I'm going to guess that the real reason behind the "flip" is her sensing the change of routine and the fact that she knows deep down that part of the routine means less time with Mommy. I'll bet she'll settle down after you get in the autumn groove.

 
At 5:56 PM, Blogger Nicole said...

Maybe what's happening is that there is too much happening - at the same (or nearly) time. You going back to work AND round two of potty-training AND moving out of your bed. She might just be acting out becasue it feels like it's too many changes at once.

 
At 10:51 PM, Blogger Hina said...

hmmmmmmmm... Nicole, good point.

D, school hasn't started for the students. We're going in to set up and plan. According to them, they're doing me a favor by letting Iman stay with me (because I don't have a caretaker at home :)

 
At 11:59 PM, Blogger Blogger said...

Oh, okay... and I guess they ARE doing you a favour.

 
At 5:40 PM, Blogger jLow said...

Hina - I completely agree with Lorraine on this one. Iman is sensing less time with Mommy and her insecurity in this change is making itself known. Little ones love routine and change is scary to them. You're doing great!

 

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