Monday, January 7, 2008

Just 30 minutes, please

All I want is 30 minutes. Thirty measly minutes when I can sit down, eat a little lunch, check my email and go to the bathroom without someone crying and someone else trying to come in.

D no longer naps (lovely), but I've kept up with what we almost jokingly call "quiet time". While G takes his afternoon nap, D hangs out in his room and plays. Theoretically, he'd be playing quietly, but "quiet" is rarely an adjective I'd use.

I've fought rather hard to keep quiet time going. He's tested me in every way he can. He's tried coming out of his room repeatedly, sitting in there crying for me, lying on the floor and kicking his door... He's a stubborn little guy (so much like his father, it's rather scary). I need that time, and I think he does too. After a while, he gets bored of whatever antics he's trying and we'll have weeks or a month or so where quiet time goes smoothly. Most days he actually asks to go to quiet time, or tells me when he's ready; I think the routine is comforting. But then something else comes up and I have to fight for it yet again. We renew the sticker chart, promise various rewards for staying in his room, etc.

Our latest problem revolves around the fact that he's refusing to poop. We went to the doctor this morning and I was reminded once again why I love our pediatrician. He has 5 kids of his own, so he's pretty much seen it all. The first thing he said was, "Yeah, Jack did that. Here's what we did for him." He gave us a stool softener, instructions of how to use it and a lot of reassurance that it's very safe and mild; his son used it for 3 years straight! He said it's rare that they need it that long; usually the fear of pooping passes after a month or so of going comfortably. I sure hope so - this has been exhausting!

At this point, D hasn't pooped in about 4 days and he's remarkably uncomfortable. And that's why he's not cooperating with quiet time. His butt hurts, his tummy hurts and all the kid really needs to do is sit on the potty and take a good dump. But will he? Of course not. That would be too easy. So he's sitting in there whining, playing for a bit, then whining some more. He keeps coming out to tell me he needs to go potty, then quickly changing his mind and saying he doesn't need to.

I'm currently banging my head against a wall.

I just need 30 minutes. That's all. G is the short nap wonder, so if he sleeps for 45 minutes at a time, I'm happy. This is the only time during the day, from the time they wake up to the time we get D to bed, that I have any sort of a break. And D won't leave me alone for 2 seconds.

At the moment, I can hear him playing with is new imaginary friend, Mr. Dinosaur and his ninja turtle action figures. I may actually get to finish my diet coke. And considering G woke me up at 5:30 this morning, I need the caffiene.

And yes, I would like some cheese with my whine.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's not unreasonable to ask for that much. If I thought he wouldn't figure it out, I'd suggest a lock for the little bugger. (You know I'm kidding)

My bug is currently playing in her bed, well after we put her to bed, with no signs of slowing down. *sigh*

If we could just compress several states and chat over our back fences...we could take turns with the kiddos and get even more than 30 minutes.

Which reminds me - the house next door is for sale. You know you want it.

Claire said...

Next door? Oooh, tempting! I'll tell you, if we ever decide to uproot our life and move states, I have a pretty good idea where we'd go.