So sick of saying no

Jack and Lily are 11 months old so I do not belong here yet; however, I thought this post fits better with you 1-4ers.

I am sooooo sick and tired of saying no or we do not do ____. Between pushing the buttons on the tv, slamming hands on the tv screen, racing to the stairs and crawling up them (had to order a gate extension and it is not here yet) stealing toys and standing up in her high chair (she screams when strapped in), Lily is killing me!!!!!
Jack is soooo laid back and I am not comparing them BUT, he does not spend his day looking for things to do that will cause mommy to drop everything she is doing and run over and stop him.

They both get plenty of love and attention and I hug and love and play with them all day. I work from home and I have a nanny 3 days a week from 10am - 2pm. Lily does not do any of these things while she is here, but the second I come home, off she goes!

I just feel like all I do is say no. I guess it is probably like this forever...I should probably get used to it. I find myself praising her for silly things just so I can get some encouragement in there. She is actually running now and I swear she is faster than me.

Thanks for listening.

 

You are setting the groundwork for later on. You will be saying no a lot during the toddler years but you will be able to pick and choose, you telling them no for these things now will make life a wee bit easier later on. With each year you have your joys and hardships, just know you can come here and find out you are not alone.

 

It's all about testing boundaries. They almost seem to think that if they do x a hundred and ONE times, the answer might just change. Continue to be consistent. The message gets through eventually.

 

NO NO NO NO NO NO!

Sorry, I just needed to shout that. I try to keep my best pretend-calm voice when saying it to the boys but sometimes I just want to SCREAM! I think it goes in phases. For awhile I was saying no always and right now we are not saying it so much. I am not foolish enough to think my days are done, though!

 

No is probably one of the most used words in our house right now. It does get old sometimes, but there really is no choice!

 

I feel like I say No all day long sometimes. It's really frustrating!

 

What I find particularly frustrating is, I'm always needing to say "No" twice. One of them will be doing something off limits, like standing on the chair, so I'll say "No standing on the chair," and the other one will immediately run over so he/she can stand on the chair, so I'll have to say it again. I keep telling myself this is just a phase. Hang in there!

thea

 

Instead of NO, I try to explain shortly; "we do not hit TV's, it's dangerous" as I remove the toddler. Same with everything else. I noticed mine are not as resentful and don't get so upset as if I just say NO. I try not to use NO too much.
Consistency is the key.

:hug99: