Tantrums and Unattainable Goals

Have you ever had a conversation with your child that went something like this?

Aiden points to the counter where the dog’s brush is.

“You want to brush Anea?”
Aiden says, “Brush.”

Aiden is happily brushing Anea and then decides he wants to brush my hair.

I say, “Let’s go get Mama’s brush, and you can brush my hair.”
“We need to go wash our hands first because we’ve been petting Anea.”
“Wash hands,” says Aiden.

We wash our hands. We get my brush.

Aiden starts crying. He says, “No.”

He runs back to where Anea’s brush is.
Aiden points to the brush and says some unintelligible utterances that I’m sure meant,
“I want Anea’s brush.”

Do I give in to this? No, because I try not to encourage little demanding tantrums.
Aiden stopped asking for the brush. I assumed that was the end of it.

It’s time for bed, so we begin our bedtime routine.
PJs are on. Daddy is ready to read to Aiden.

Aiden asks for a brush.
I give him his own brush.
Aiden screams, “NO!” and throws it across the floor.
He goes into the bathroom and gets my brush, brings it to the living room,
And again points to Anea’s brush.
I say, “It is bedtime, Aiden. We can brush Anea tomorrow. Tell her goodnight.”

And here’s where the biggest meltdown to date happened.
He screams and cries and refuses to stop.
I try to console him. I try to redirect him. Nothing is working.
What is happening to my child?? Why are my tricks for fixing such disaster not working.
I feel like I am going to cry with him.
Poor little Aiden.
I try ignoring him. He screams louder.
I ask if he is ready to choose some books and have Daddy read to him.
He stops screaming for a moment, says something I can’t understand, and then starts the whole tantrum over again.
At this point, I don’t even think he knows why he is upset. He’s just really tired.
Finally, he calms down enough that Daddy can read him stories and tuck him into bed.
Aiden is sniveling the whole time they are reading.

I realize this whole situation is completely age appropriate
and just a part of my little ones development,
but it does not make me feel any better.
It makes me question my abilities as a mom.
It makes me wonder if the choices I’m making are the right ones.
Should I just give in to his little tantrums?
If I do give in, will he turn into a tantrum throwing monster?
Oh, the choices we have as parents!

Unattainable Goals
Last week, I set a goal for myself to fold the laundry
It bothered me that I had 4 baskets of laundry to fold up.
Well, I folded those clothes and put most of them away.
I, however, have not folded any of the rest of the laundry since the beginning of the week.
I failed miserably with this goal.

And the goal from a previous week about keeping the kitchen clean?
Well, that goal was nearly obliterated as well.
My kitchen sink drain got clogged.
I couldn’t do dishes until we fixed it.
Total bummer.
I got my kitchen back in order, but have been slacking a little.
Nothing like before, but I do have dirty dishes in the sink.

Even though I set a goal for folding laundry,
I did not make it a priority.
I’m okay with this.
I don’t think laundry should be a priority.
It still bothers me that there are unfolded laundry though…

My goal for this week is to find balance.
Do what I can.
Fold what I can.
Clean when I can.

My top priorities are Aiden and Patrick.
Then, I have to work on curriculum writing.
I have a deadline soon approaching.
After that, I will do what I can.

Balance.
Help me, Lord, find balance.