Monday, January 26, 2009

Little Bit's Mantra, Clean Laundry, & Nursery Furniture

I feel like the meanest Mommy in the universe. As you know, I'm trying to wean Little Bit from her nightly bottle. She hasn't had a bottle at bedtime in 6 days now, and this has been relatively easy because she's been sick for most of that time and rocking her for 5 minutes seemed to do the trick. Now that she feels better, however, she realizes that her nightly routine has changed. She is not happy. She screamed bloody murder last night and once even managed to fall out of bed in a fit of pissed-off-ness. (I made that up - you like?) "I want a bottle, Mommy!" Over and over and over and over until I was ready to throttle her. She eventually screamed herself to sleep around 11:30PM, but was up again at 1AM hollering "I want a bottle, Mommy," like it was her own personal mantra. At this point, I thought maybe rocking her would calm her down, but it seemed to only make her angrier. "I wanna take a nap!" (This means she wants to be in her own bed, not cuddled up with me.) As soon as I put her back in her bed, she started chanting her mantra again. Throwing my hands up in frustration, I left her to holler loudly in her own room, and went to the living room where Hubby was still watching TV. I said, "I don't know what to do with her! She's making me nuts!" (He can't hear her screaming because he can only hear out of one ear, and that one ear was plugged with an ear bud so he could listen to the TV without disturbing anyone.) He said, "Just let her scream, then." I hated to do it, but I got back in bed with Little Bit still yelling about her bottle. Finally, when she woke up again around 3AM, I'd had it. Rather than get her a bottle, I got her a sippy cup with some milk in it. (Just enough to shut her up.) I hoped that she would be so happy to get anything at that point that she would accept the cup and not say another word about it. I got lucky with this and didn't hear another sound from her. She's going to be even more pissed off when she wakes up this morning to find that mommy is not there. Like I said in a previous post, she's been completely attached to my hip for the last few days; not letting me out of her sight and screaming if I even looked like I was going to walk away from her. I hope that Hubby doesn't have to deal with her screaming for me all day. Thankfully, though, she's not had a fever for over 24 hours now and is actually well enough to attend Camp Faith at church today from 9-noon; none of the other kids (or parents of said kids) should have to worry about Little Bit contaminating the nursery. This will give Hubby a few hours of blessed peace and quiet. We'll see how that goes, huh? On another note, I'm finally nearing the end of my battle with the laundry. I'm down to the dregs; the things that have wound up under pieces of furniture or were somehow looked over in my mad quest for clean clothes for the entire family. Hubby has a closet full of freshly-washed and hung shirts and pants. Kiddo has a dresser full of freshly-washed clothes. Little Bit's clothes are clean, but not put away yet; this is my project for tonight when I get home. And, on one last note, if you know of anyone who might be interested in purchasing Little Bit's (and Kiddo's) nursery furniture, let me know. I've not priced it yet because I'm waiting to hear from my SIL about where she got it (16+ years ago) and how much she paid for it. It's definitely been used, but is still in fabulous condition and the stuff is just beautiful. There's a large armoire with 4 drawers, a side cabinet and a space for a television (?). There's a crib and also a dresser with a changing table top. This stuff is all absolutely beautiful and heavy and all matches. The material that SIL put on the drawer-faces can be changed, but is currently a blue-striped Laura Ashley material that SIL has requested she get back. Can do. Let me know! TTFN JMS

3 comments:

Karrie said...

I can totally relate to the bottle thing. I took the bottle and binky away from my now almost 4 yr old when he was about 13 months old. I got a non spill sippy cup that he only used in bed and I only filled it 1/4 to 1/2 way. When he was done or asleep I took the cup away so it wouldn't be there when he woke up. After several weeks he would just hand it over when he was done. It is going to take awhile but stick to your guns. The more you stay with it the more she will go with it. It is hard and frustrating. I know, I felt soooo alone when I was making any kind of changes with him and my husband was supportive but didn't have to put up with the mental strain that it put on me. It will start to get easier...trust me!!
Thank you for looking at my blog! Thanks for introducing me to your blog...I like to know that I am not alone in the fight with the toddlers..LOL. I am in East Haven, grew up in Guilford. We want out of this state soooo bad...too expensive and I need land!

Allie said...

Oh, I got so much laundry done yesterday. By the time I get to the little extra things that never seem to get washed, I always loose steam. I was so close to finishing today and it just didn't happen. Sigh.

G. B. Miller said...

Howdy.

This post brings back not so-fond memories of my two children. The grief we went through with the oldest (16) was good training experience with the youngest (8).

All I can say is, when I start looking at other people's little children and wistfully start saying "I wish my children were that age again", I'll remember this post.

And shudder.

A very nice blog you have here. Will keep on visiting.