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what do you do when:

1. your kids fight


2. your on the phone and kids want your attention


3. your kids backtalk


4. or, say naughty words or inappropriate words (stupid, shut up)


5. your kids want to sleep in your bed


6. when your kids drive you nuts


7. when you want time away from your kids


8. when you want time with your kids.

i'm a full time single mother with a full time job.  these are the things i often think about and/or deal with on a daily basis.  and, being honest, the only time i feel like a bad mom is when i feel guilty thinking "god i wish your father would just take you"  (note:  dad is in Ft Rucker, ALwith his current wife, they're expecting a baby sometime this year).  occationally, the daycare lady has been very helpful.  sometimes she offers to keep my kids over night.  other times, i ask her to take them and i pay her, its not much but sheesh!! 

so, i'm curious how some of you handle the above situations.  as i type this, both kids are in the tub yelling for me, pounding on the tub with an empty cup, splashing water ..... lord help me

thank you, just the thought means alot!  *huggles*

Are they small enough to fit in the critter kennels lol. Seriously, I only had one kid and she was enough to drive me up the wall. I raised my granddaughter the 1st 3 /2 yrs and she was much easier to take care of.  I know it's summer right now, but I know some of the high schools give credit for babysitting. That way you don't have to pay them much or none at all. I know that some of the churches have people available to help with babysitting also at no charge.

i signed up with my local catholic church for playdates etc, but nothing so far *sniff*  i didn't think about the HS giving credit, way cool!!

and, yes, they are small enough to fit into doggie crates, good tip! 

There’s no reason to feel like a bad mom…..you start being a bad mom when you act out due to your frustrations….ie abusing the kids physically and/or mental. I works 24/24 schedule, so I’m gone at least 50% of the time. If I get hit with OT, I’m gone 72 hours straight. My kids do all of the things you listed, and at times, my wife has a hard time dealing with it. I think it just one of those things that “happens”….that will “pass”.  I know my wife is looking forward to when your son starts school, but she’ll miss him when he’s not at home. Some of the things she does…. run in the yard to burn energy, take them to a playground and let them burn energy and meet other kids/parents, sign them up for t-ball (by us, t-ball starts at 4 y/o) and let them burn energy and meet other kids/parents. I wish I could say that I feel your pain, but I don’t know how I (or my wife) would do it as a single parent, but I’m sure it’ll make you a stronger person in the end.

Course.....everyone needs encouragement from time to time! No one should be expected to handle things like that on there own!!

slaco says ...

thanks for all your kind words, esp the 'encouragements" ... it's also nice to hear "this too shall pass" from others (other than my mom). 

being a single parent isn't as easy as i thought it would be.  can you believe i used to want to be a single parent?  what was i thinking??

again, thanks :)

At least you're talking about it....that helps a bunch. When we talk with other parents we find out that our kids do the similar things....like when a child learns to take a diaper off. It only seems to happen when the diaper is full of poo, and you have your kid there covered in skid marks.....yes, you get mad, but then you laugh about it later. I bet your mom can tell you all kinda things you did that drove her "up the wall"

HAHAHA that's awesome Slaco!!

slaco says ...

speaking of poo ...

my son was born dec 31.  so, for his first bday my father (my son's father and i were separated by then) wanted to throw him his first bday with cake and ice cream, etc.  so .,.. we all ate dinner, my son got his few gifts then it was time for the CHOCOLATE ON CHOCOLATE cake.  yum.  course, you can't forget the child's FIRST bday cake, you know the one ... where HE/SHE gets it all to themself to do what they want?  well, yeh so his was choc on choc, too.  he ate most of it!!!!!!

so, jan 01 my son is 1yr one day.  i hear him in his crib talking to himself.  i think "i'll let him lay there until he starts fussing.  then, i can lay in my cozy bed, too"  about an hour later he starts to make a fuss.  i get up and think "gd, what did i feed the dogs to make them fart so!"  i open my son's door and get greeted by a black baby!!  my son went from a pasty white blond kid to all black.  literally.  he had a huge grin on his face ---happy to see mommy.  of course, i had to drag my jaw to the front of the crib to see what made my son turn color.  i then saw, it wasn't JUST his head that turned black, it was all but his upper back that turned black.  i started crying ... i had no idea what had happened.  just as i went to grab him i felt something wet running down my leg... my son just pee'd on me.  he had NO diaper on!?!?  how did this happen???  it was in his crib, in the slits of the rails, in his hair, in his nose, on his fingers embedded in his cuticles, toes ... he was C O V E R E D!!!

i freaked out and called everyone i knew.  i didn't care if they had a hangover (this was about 8am).  i placed him in the tub to rise off.  he had creveses (sp?) that i didn't know he even had!  chunks of poo were making their way down the tub and in the catchplug.  it was the first time ever as a mom i wanted to puke.

after 20minutes in the tub he was finally all washed up.  but now he was pissed as all hell.  i HAD to use a chizle!!  so, at that time i was still using a diaper changing table.  i layed him on it with his mouth open as wide as ever screaming ... i noticed something on the palet of his mouth ... i got a Qtip to see what it was.,    OMGCANYOUBELIEVEIT ---- crap!  literallly!  he had poo in his mouth!!!  what did i do!!!!!!!!!!so yeh ... jan 01 2007 was a day to remember.

My daugther did something similiar. It was my luck that I was at work......my wife did think it was as funny as I did.