Most weekdays I make a little list of things to do. I check off my items one by one, after the chore is done. The other day Agnes grabbed her magna-doodle board, and started drawing her to do list too.
She had two chores on her list. She needed to feed the cat, and water the outdoor plants.
She was pretty happy when she checked everything off of her list.
Well the Miss was doing well at sleeping through the night, and waking up right on time. Lately though, she has been waking up at 5:30 a.m., and staying up way too late. She also doesn’t want to sleep in her room, and she let’s us all hear about it via screaming tantrum. She doesn’t nap either. I think it is just the age that she is at, but it is exhausting.
This mommy needs a bit of a break, and maybe just one night of sleep.
Hey Agnes… Did you make that mess?
Agnes says, what mess. I don’t see a mess, I was on my pink phone.
Agnes, did you make that mess?
Agnes turns around, and says, oh that mess.
Agnes bows her head and pouts, I don’t know who made the mess…
I’m pretty sure it was you Agnes.
Agnes with a big smile and a sassy wave, it was me. I’m messy!
Oh, this mommy is tired of cleaning up the messy…
Screaming, kicking, flailing, fighting… Tantrums, terrible two’s, the toddler blackout zone, whatever you call it, we are in it.
It started about a year ago exactly. Our sweet, smiley one and a half year old hit angry toddlerdom with a scream that could break glass. One year later, she hasn’t stopped. This Summer the tantrums have escalated, and sleepless nights full of separation anxiety have ensued.
I’ve been researching all about tantrums, how to deal with them, and what causes them, but I haven’t been able to prevent one of them… I am exhausted by my strong-willed-screaming-little gal, and I would love a tantrum free outing back. I am already worried about the back to school routine, Agnes does not want to get up, or dressed, or leave the house without a struggle. I’ve even tried taking her out for errands at all different times, they all end with an ear-shattering tantrum.
I don’t want to generalize, but girls really are different from boys. I don’t remember Thade throwing as many tantrums, but when he was little, he was the only. I remember Dylan throwing a major tantrum about every single afternoon, he didn’t want to nap, and he was exhausted, and hence the twenty minute scream-fest. Once he got it out of his system, he was good to go. Agnes will pitch a fit at the drop of a hat, about anything, I just don’t get it.
The tantrums, yes they are loud, and in public they are embarrassing, but she is two… The separation-anxiety at night is what really gets to me. Agnes fights sleep, we have the routine of bath, pj’s on, brush her teeth, read a book or two, and she is supposed to be in bed snoozing by 8:30 p.m. It seems calm, and relaxing, but as soon as I try to leave, the screaming starts. I get her calmed back down, and one of the boys will come by her room to ask a question, then the screaming starts up again, and once she is calm, the other little guy drops by. So of course I have to tell the boys to please stay in their room until Agnes is asleep, and then the cat will jump the gate and wake her up. Last night I sat with her for two hours until she finally gave up the grouchiness and went to sleep. She was promptly back up at 1:3o a.m., and I finally got to go back to sleep at 5:30 a.m. There is no way this is going to work when school starts…
I’m hoping that this is phase, and it will get better, but I am one frustrated mommy at the moment.
Since we’ve been indoors most of the week. I decided it was time to seriously work on Agnes’ bedroom. She had outgrown her toddler bed, and the crib was still in the room, along with a lot of clothes for a yard sale. Her room was in need of some work.
I cleaned out her dollhouse/toy storage, and added in two more bins that we were using for toy storage downstairs. Just a little organization made a big difference.
She also got a new bed! Dylan did too. Both of the youngest kiddos were in need of new beds, and a local shop was having a great sale. The kids love their new comfy beds.
I enlisted James’ help to move out the big stuff, and disassemble the crib. We completely rearranged the room, and Agnes loves it.
She has my favorite vintage quilt (thanks mom) on her bed.
We moved the toy storage to a different wall, and re-purposed the changing table as an entertainment center.
The antique chair stayed in the room, but we moved it to where the toy storage was. She likes to rearrange it often and put her favorite items in the chair.
I also started her book collection with hand-me-downs from the boys. She loves to be read to, especially if it is her big brother Thade that is doing the reading.
The big girl bedroom turned out great. Agnes has so much more room to play, and it is clean and airy. I would like to find a few more vintage finds to decorate it a bit more, but for now, I’m happy.