Comments on Kisses of Sunshine: Parenting Issues

Ah well, I'm with ya. I just wanna come home and ...

2009-11-10T12:07:52.145-05:00

Ah well, I'm with ya. I just wanna come home and crash. I'm 38, no 39, 38?? oh I can't remember, anyway if you remember my younger 2 are 5 and it's totally an age thing. Boy or girl, doesn't matter. I've had to resort to staying with my kids again as well with their chores. I'm sure as some point I'll get lax again, but it does help being there with them. Although the complaining continues...just letting you know I'm with ya and if you want I can video cam our house for some entertainment. :)

My oldest has quite a temper. I think I've read ev...

2009-11-09T16:20:19.227-05:00

My oldest has quite a temper. I think I've read every parenting book on the market. I've tried a lot of different techniques as well, being as consistent as possible to give it time to work, but abandoning things as I saw they weren't. I'm still looking into things--was very pleased with the message and results in the books How to Really Love Your Child by Ross Campbell as well as How to Really Parent Your Child. Both Christian based books.

God bless you and guide you in your endeavor.

You're dong a good job, Mom. I had several thin...

2009-11-07T09:35:11.053-05:00

You're dong a good job, Mom.

I had several things that came to mind when reading your post, but there were too many and I lost them. :) I'm 34, 4 kids (2, 4, 6 and 9). I don't think I have any more energy or brain power than anyone else! :)

I love your idea of the potty naughty spot. I think I'll have to adopt that one because our staircase faces the TV as well.

One more idea for your bag of tricks in getting the unnamed child in your house to help pick up toys. I like to change it up a bit. Sometimes I tell them to pick up a category of toys ("pick up all the stuffed animals") or sometimes I use colors ("pick up everything with blue on it").

The kids' favorite method is sort of a cross between I Spy and a treasure hunt. I look around the room and mentally pick out about five toys. I tell the kids, "I have five things in mind, see if you can figure them out!" They run around picking up various random items trying to guess what my five items are. The kicker is that if they don't pick out the piece I had in mind they still have to put it away and try again! This works really well in the living room where there are usually items from all areas of the house and then their young legs do the running around putting everything away! (Shhhh, sometimes I do change which items I'm thinking of partway through the game so the entire living room gets picked up!) Ahem. :)

How did you know it would be a long post? Ah, a lo...

2009-11-06T23:16:37.380-05:00

How did you know it would be a long post? Ah, a lot of examples for your struggles. I did laugh at you being an EXCLAMATION POINT (hard to type holding down shift...maybe you used caps lock?). Thank you for being transparent. I'm sure others will be able to find comfort that they're not alone.

Staying calm is not easy. Sounds like you're making headway in that struggle, though. With Dan gone, I know it can get out of control quickly. I'm feeling it with David being gone now, I just keep saying, "one day at a time."

I can totally relate to the issues you are having ...

2009-11-06T18:00:51.231-05:00

I can totally relate to the issues you are having with your son. I had my first two children (ages 18 and 15) 6 years before the 2nd set came along. Here I am in my mid-40's raising an adult child, a teen and to grammer aged. No energy. Sometimes I wish I could go back and raise the first two over again. I yelled constantly, among other things and it did no good whatsoever. I have a 6 year old son who likes to push my buttons, and when I yell at him, he cries. I am praying God will give you strategies. One thing that has really helped our family is Danny Silk's parenting skills. He has a website and his techniques are so very practical. I hope things get better for you.