I'm sorry to vent but I'm frustrated. Right now I should be sitting in Relief Society of our new ward. But after Lauren had HUGE meltdown #3 I figured it was time to head home for a nap.
We don't know what to do. She HATES being contained so staying in a space less than the size of her crib for over an hour is nigh unto impossible. She's figured out how to crawl under the benches so we try to keep her sitting on the bench. That doesn't go over too well. She starts screaming so we take her out and hold her and make her sit still for a few minutes instead of just letting her run through the halls. Most of the time that works and she will calm down. These last two weeks she has thrown an absolute fit when we've tried to hold her and make her sit still.
Granted it is nap time for her. But she's usually done pretty well in the past as long as I had enough books for her to look at. I also figured with Chase being able to sit by us now she would be even better, wrong. She's ten times worse.
All of the ideas and suggestions I've heard for teaching reverence and sitting still are for older toddlers... I just don't know what to do with her since she's not quite at that age where she understands punishment but she knows if she screams she gets out.
I'm frustrated that I can't seem to talk to get to know anyone since I'm constantly chasing her or trying to get her to be quiet. And it really won't help matters if I can't even go to the meetings.
Don't get me wrong, she is still the cutest little stinker ever, but I'd like to at least be able to sit through sacrament meeting without a meltdown.
So any suggestions? What do you all do with your kids?
5 comments:
My heart goes out to you! You're probably just going to have to wait it out and count down the days till nursery. 12-18 months is the hardest age for me because they don't have much reasoning ability. With Dallin now, we have just given up the fight and bring him home from church when he's tired. Occasionally we've left him with the monitor on and came and checked on him every 15 minutes. Good luck!
Lucas is pretty much the same way although when Steve's there he actually does a little better. Pretty much the only thing that works for us is snacks, snacks and more snacks! I was worried Lucas was going to be chubby because I'd feed him so much. Or if you can sit by a family with other kids sometimes the other kids are pretty entertaining for them. Other than that, hang in there! This too shall pass.
We have a Sunday bag and those toys/books/snacks stay in there all week and so every Sunday they are "new" to Peter and he does so much better with that! Also when we take him out in the hall we will walk one lap around the church but he has to hold our hand the whole time and it seems to get some of the wiggles out! There is no good time for church it is either during a meal or nap time! Good luck! Nursery isn't too far away!
I don't remember having too much trouble with our kids at that age, though I'm probably just forgetting how bad it was. :) I did, however, leave stake conference a few minutes early yesterday with our 5 year old because she was throwing a fit! I marched her out to the car and we sat there until it was over. I'd never had to actually leave church before, but we've spent a lot of time out in the foyer with the kids on our laps, just sitting there for a few minutes (or the rest of the meeting, if it takes that long). Good luck!
This might not be great advice, but every child goes through this stage and it's pretty much just survival. I'm not saying you shouldn't try, but don't be hard on yourself. And it might get a little bit harder before it gets better. But soon she'll be more entertained by the things you bring and less driven to wander everywhere. Try to breathe and remember it doesn't last forever.
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