Replies to 'General Advice'

Would you mind something from an old lady? I've raised 4 kids...the youngest is now 6, though his siblings are much older than he b/c I was 42 when he was born. The other three were the ones that all grew up together. It's been my experience that kids will take ANY kind of attention they can get....even if it's negative. Could be that you're the typically overworked, overstressed mother with too much on her plate...like so many of us are. Maybe your girls are clamoring for attention from you...just some time with MOM, you know? Kids are desperate for love and approval from their parents. And they'll go to any lengths to get it. I found through trial and error that positive works better than negative. Kind of head things off before they get to a boiling point, if that makes any sense. It's hard to spend the one-on-one time with your kids when you've got so much else to do. I made my mind up a LONG time ago that there were just some things that didn't rate as important as spending time with my kids was. Clean house? There's time for that when they're older and not so demanding time-wise. Supper? Make it quick and easy. Kids don't like fancy dinners anyway. Laundry? Get them to "help" you. Even very small children can learn to sort clothes, and they love to pour the soap in and pull clothes out of the dryer. It seems to take longer to do it that way, but in the end it's worth it. And is hubby like most and blissfully unaware of the role HE needs to take here? If so...good luck with that. I never did discover the magic cure for a husband who just wants to veg out at the end of a work day. He *should* turn off the sports channel and spend some real time with them. Watching them isn't interaction. I know how hard it is to do errands with small children...I wasn't *allowed* (boy, things have changed in my house I've come to realize, lol) to leave the kids when I had to go out. But maybe you could have taken ONE of the girls...that way  you could spend the time interacting with them. It takes a wee bit longer to get something done...but the time spent is well worth it.

Sorry...just some remembrances here of what I had to go through, and the mistakes I made myself. And the lessons learned from them...........Good luck...