Your Biggest Parenting Challenge

smitt2619

I have a 3.5 year old and a 7 month old. Currently, I'm struggling with potty training and a baby who still doesn't STTN (he still wakes to nurse 1-3 times/night). Both seem to be topics lots of parents struggle with, but it got me thinking and wondering what others have struggles with. So what have you found to be the most difficult challenges with your LO?

mlm1128

Discipline.  I am not good at it at all and as a result have a dd who tends to lose it when I try to discipline her.  She is normally well behaved, and listens to every one else, but we butt heads pretty good when she gets mad.

bebemama

discipline- it doesn't come naturally to me, so I really have to work at it to be consistent.

 

kjr

The worst for me us has been sleep issues, tantrums, and backtalk/sassiness. 

Once Alex turned 3 he was developed a smart mouth and it drove us crazy.  Now that he is 4 is has gotten better, but he still has his moments!

veloelle

Not yelling and letting her be 4. She is non stop from the second she gets up until the moment she goes to bed. And she's been up at no later than 5:30 all.week. Non.stop. Running, yelling, talking, talking, talking, running, running, yelling, making a mess, etc, etc. These are all typically 4 year old behaviors, but I get complete overload and loose my sh!t more than I should.

I have to learn how to just let her be and not squash who she is.

DandelionMom

Balancing everything -the cooking, cleaning, homework, classroom volunteering, school meetings, laundry, special diets, extra curriculular activities, and still making sure each child has some one-on-one time with me. 

DevonPow

Patience. In terms of dealing with DS, not getting frustrated easily, realizing that one bad day of something is not indicative of a lifelong issue..... I knew that would be the hardest part for me going into parenthood, and I was right.

shopgirl78

I potty trained DD when DS was an infant and DS when DS2 was an infant...I agree very hard.

Our challenges with the children:

DD:  She is mostly well behaved; she is a good eater and minus one or two, here and there, gets great marks at school.  HOWEVER, she can get sassy or refuse to do something for herself (which she can do), usually a trip to her bedroom solves that tho...

DS:  I love him to death.  He's senstive and much more reserved than DD.  He still loves to cuddle!  The bad:  He's three (enough said, right)...he gets in trouble for spitting and throwing often.   It's almost always when he is mad or frustrated, we have a harder time disaplining him.  Trips to his room or time out doesn't seem to phase him as much.   He is my horrible eater...

DS2:  My biggest challenge with him is that he wants to be held, A LOT.  It's like he doesn't realize (and he doesn't) he is the third child.  I need him to be a bit more independent.  He crawls, pulls up...please explore more than your mama's lap!

peekaboo716

Getting DS to follow directions/listening. Of course, he does this well at school, but not so much for me. Which leads me to yelling. That is really my worst area.

For DD, it's just realizing that she is a little being all her own and letting her explore that. I still think of her as a baby. I sometimes miss the cues that tell me she is growing up and becoming an independent person.

femmegem

Balance, but that's in my life overall, not just parenting. When I'm feeling the strain because my balance is off I tend to yell more, stress out like crazy, etc. And get sick. Which I am right now.

jlw2505

It is different with each of my kids.  With my older DD - she has major tantrums at times and a lot is centered around her speech delay so working with her to overcome the tantrums, teacher her how to stay calm enough to work on getting out what she needs to say.  They really go hand in hand as she gets frustrated when she can't tell us what she wants to right away.

With my younger DD, right now it is potty training - she is totally pee trained but still refusing to poop in the potty.  She was in undies for 2 months and almost daily had a poop accident and more often than not, had pee accidents just because but she would do totally fine with no pee accidents many times as well.  We put her back in pull-ups and she has had 1 pee accident since Friday and has been telling us when she has to go everytime but still pooping in them.  We have told her she is not getting her big girl undies back until she starts pooping in the potty and I have accepted that it could be months and I am fine with it.   She also hits and pulls hair which my older DD never did.

KoriBrett

I'm finding it really hard to turn off the mom part and be a good wife.  Or turn off the wife and be a good mom.  I haven't figured out how to mesh the two, it's hard for me.  That, and lack of sleep. 

DD specifically - she's pretty user friendly.

DS specifically - he's hell on wheels and hard to keep up with.  The kids are polar opposites so we're having to relearn everything we ever did with DD.

rebbieW

Keeping them from hurting each other. No matter what I say, how stern I am, how many consequences I dish out, it doesn't get better. I think it's more a matter of age and getting enough food and rest than actual discipline techniques, but even that doesn't help all the time.

Whining is also a big one (with my daughter), but that's just an annoyance at this point.

fleur-de-lys

femmegem:

Balance, but that's in my life overall, not just parenting. When I'm feeling the strain because my balance is off I tend to yell more, stress out like crazy, etc. And get sick. Which I am right now.

This EXACTLY - and I only have 1!!  I am really working on not letting stuff get to me but it's so damn hard!!!!  We are getting ready to leave for a couple days with the inlaws and extended family and we've had a constant stream of visitors the last two weeks so I feel like everything is just off. 

wellfleet04

veloelle:

Not yelling and letting her be 4. She is non stop from the second she gets up until the moment she goes to bed. And she's been up at no later than 5:30 all.week. Non.stop. Running, yelling, talking, talking, talking, running, running, yelling, making a mess, etc, etc. These are all typically 4 year old behaviors, but I get complete overload and loose my sh!t more than I should.

I have to learn how to just let her be and not squash who she is.

This.  Except DD is 3.5.  

For DS (17 months) it is sleep.  He is still waking up at 4:45 am and I am OVER IT.

Mrs Manners

Tantrums. Most caused by him just not getting his way. Some caused because of this speech delay causing frustration.

However, we've seen a HUGE improvement in his behavoir since we started daycare. Basically, he was bored to death at home with our nanny and wasn't being challenged physically or mentally and this led to him acting out (and the nanny wasn't good at discipline). We're also seeing an improvement with his speech (and it's only been a month in daycare) and I think that has/will help too.

smitt2619

Oh my gosh, when I first posted this, I managed to block discipline out of my mind!  I constantly struggle with that with my older one.  He's just not a good listener.  It often becomes a power struggle, and I try not to yell, but often he is just so focused on what is is doing, or not doing.  Thanks for all of the responses ladies, it sure helps to be reminded I'm not alone.  There certainly are many joys too, and I try to remind myself of those when I'm dealing with this other stuff.  

MAM1006

veloelle:

Not yelling and letting her be 4. She is non stop from the second she gets up until the moment she goes to bed. And she's been up at no later than 5:30 all.week. Non.stop. Running, yelling, talking, talking, talking, running, running, yelling, making a mess, etc, etc. These are all typically 4 year old behaviors, but I get complete overload and loose my sh!t more than I should.

I have to learn how to just let her be and not squash who she is.

 

This, ezxcpet that it applies to my 2 year old DD.  She is just "being two" but she totally exhausts me.  

SumnerBride

DD1: getting her to be positive about things.  She seems to have an instant negative response to most things that are new for her.  New food, new clothes, new situations, etc.  I'm trying to get her to be excited about things.

DD2: getting her to LISTEN!  She's a hellion and is all over the place and all up in everything she's not supposed to be in.  It's exhausting going anywhere or doing anything with her.

Overall, I need to learn how to chill out.  I envy those super relaxed moms who seem to just let stuff go.  I'm not there yet.  I'm not relaxed at all.  I get stressed out way too often about stupidass sh*t.

Zenya

DS (4):  his eating or lack thereof makes me want to take a hostage.

DD (2):  She's just very two and it's annoying.

As a general statement I struggle with yelling, but thankfully way, way less than before.  But it's a freaking full time job for me to be patient.

kickypants

DS1 is easy peasy. No major issues with him, except maybe the sassiness, which I actually find pretty amusing most the time. DS2, bless his 2.5-year-old heart, is my challenge. Our biggest problem lately is the meltdowns over every.single.thing. Keeping my patience with him is my goal every day. DS3 is 6 months and still wakes to nurse twice every night, which is fine, but the sleep deprivation makes DS2's meltdowns that much harder to deal with.

mgfit1

Potty training.  My DS was so hard to potty train.  He finally got it - relief!  He has been a dream other than that...nothing else has really been too crazy. 

BubblyToes

Discipline, mainly being consistent, is probably my number one.

Followed closely by my child's crappy appetite, which drives me batty.  As well as his tendency to wake up at o'dark thirty.

MayorMcCheese000

Having to be a parent all the time.

My kids are kids, they act like children and do all the things that come with it. I accept that.

The problem is trying to muster up the energy and patience to be a good mom everyday.

Sometimes I want to sleep in, do something in peace and solitude, buy something for myself without feeling guilty, essentially, sometimes I want to be a little selfish.