Please! please stop it!

My sweet little monsters..they won't stop whining and following me around. I'll explain to them where I'm going and I'll be right back...(like, to the kitchen!) but NOOOOOO!!! Instead of staying where they are and playing, they follow me and cry out "Mommyy!"

:umm: :headbang: :cry: :headbang:

It is soo frustrating! Can't seem to get a handle on this issue..and all dh can say is "spank them"

Anyhow, this has been going on for a while, and everytime they do this..i tell them no, go sit and play, or something..but not working =( any advice?

 

What I would not do is punish them in any way. They really are not being bad - what they are doing is completely normal.

Please don't take this as judgmental - believe me, I know it's frustrating and annoying at times. I know is exponentially more difficult & time consuming to do basic chores with two two-year old "helpers" in tow. But it is what it is. I would work on toning down the whining, because trying to get them to stop following you around the house is a losing battle that will just result in all of you being upset. If you stop trying to stop them from coming, you might get less whining. Try to change your mindset - assume they will follow you. If you're in the kitchen preparing the meal - engage them in play-doh at the table, playing with your plasticware, "washing" fruits/veggie in a bowl of water... It takes considerably longer to make dinner, so plan ahead for it. A meal that might take you 20 minutes is going to take at least 30, so give yourself 40 and you will feel less stressed.

 

Chance-I get what you're saying, I do!!
We have a play room full of toys and they rarely hang out in there :headbang: Instead they are in the kitchen dumping out the cabinets, or in the living room shaking whatever is in their sippy cups all over the carpet, or in the bathroom unrolling the toilet paper...and as soon as I get one mess picked up there's another!!
Wouldnt it be great if they would just play and be content.
Dont think that's going to happen at this age...darn it!!

:grouphug: there's always a new phase and challenge isnt there?

No advice from me really...I like what PP said about engaging them but I also know with an older sibling you have to be in two places at once a lot of the time, right? sigh......

 

Can you block off their play area with a gate? My boys are 32 months and I still have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs in our basement which is our family room. It's 100% child proof so I can leave them and not be worried they may get into something they should not. I can look down from the kitchen and they know if they need me, all they have to do is stand by the gate and call my name.

 

I know that it is terribly hard & frustrating at times. :hug: I have definitely been there with trying to cook dinner with one kid hanging on my leg & the other playing on the floor right behind me. I don't have a lot of advice on how to make it better, mostly because I really think it is a phase they will outgrow. I would definitely not punish them for wanting to be with me all the time, I think it would be hard to get them to understand the punishment since they aren't really doing anything wrong. I agree with pp, I always assumed they were going to follow me into whatever room I was in & I tried to just involve them in whatever I was doing or I would give them coloring to do at the table while I was cooking or small towels to attempt to fold while I was doing laundry, etc. Of course it took waaaaaay longer to get things done, but it was better than listening to them whine and cry and they do outgrow this stage eventually and they will start playing on their own.

 

Thank ya! I do let them come with me at times but, even then...they whine. lol. But, I will try having them "help" me more with whatever I'm doing.
Hopefully that will calm them down a bit =)