Happy Thursday! I am so glad tomorrow is Friday! This week has seemed to drag on forever, and this lady is ready for the weekend!
Yes we are smiling over here for sure!
For those of you that follow me on IG or Facebook then you know that my sweet little Olivia is not always so sweet in the mornings!
Way too many of our mornings are spent like this...throwing mini-fits on the steps!
This was her just this past week, having a major meltdown because she didn't want to go to school. And when this happens it just sets the tone for the whole day, and I am stressed out to the MAX!
#truth
Normally Olivia is a happy, fun little lady
Her sweet little face and bubbly personality...you can't not just love this little girl.
That being said, she can be BRUTAL in the mornings. There is nothing worse in my opinion than starting off the day with a crying, whining little girl. It not only stresses me out, but AJ too, the poor kid can't even eat breakfast and watch some TV in peace in the mornings. She cries, and not just a little whimper, but straight up meltdowns, as you can see in the video above, about how she is tired and hates school and just wants to stay home. Of course I love that she wants to stay home and hang out with me all day, but she has to go to school, and starting the day like this is just not good for either one of us! I can usually calm her down after about 20 minutes, and then it is like a new little girl has shown up.
After her 20 minute fit the other morning, here she is 10 minutes later, happy and ready to go to school....SERIOUSLY?!?!?!
This struggle has been going on since kindergarten, she is now in first grade. I have spoken to her teachers, and they tell me she is perfectly fine during the day at school, She comes off the bus, literally skipping each day, telling me all about her day and how much fun she had at school. She has lots of friends, is very social, does well in school...I just don't get it!
Olivia has always been a good sleeper, up until she was 4, she napped every single day from 1:30-5, and then back in bed by 8...talk about a dream child! I think if she could start school at 11, sleep until 10 everyday she would be fine...HA!!
This perfectly explains Liv!
I really don't like to yell at my kids, so I try and be calm and reason with her, but it is not always easy, and even though I hate to admit it, I do sometimes loose my temper and yell at her. We don't have a ton of time in the mornings, so her having these tantrums for 20 minutes really throws us off schedule. It breaks my heart seeing her so upset in the mornings about going to school, but I know she has a great time there, so it is frusturating as heck!
We have tried everything, threatening her, bribing her, speaker phone conversations with Mark before 8:00 AM, and sometimes it works, and then sometimes it does not.
I would love to know if any other moms out there are dealing with something similar, and if so please please please share with me any tips or tricks that have worked!
Thanks so much for stopping by today. Be sure to check back tomorrow for Friday Favorites.
Have a GREAT day!
Maybe an earlier bedtime would help. Sounds like maybe she just needs a bit more sleep. If sleep isn't the issue I wonder if ignoring the behavior would get it to stop. Is she being "rewarded" at all for this behavior? I would make sure she knows what she's responsible for in the morning (getting dressed, breakfast, brushing teeth, etc.) and then set a timer for 10 - 15 minutes before you need to leave and tell her she has to have all of those things done by the time the timer goes off. If she doesn't then there should be a consequence when she's home from school (no t.v., electronics, etc. - something that's important to her). I know we all parent differently but this is how I would approach it. My kids weren't fit throwers when they were young because it just wasn't an option - they got nothing from me when they did it and so there was no point! Good luck! :)
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the timer! I'm going to try that!!!! She does have consequences for poor behavior...if she misbehaves in the morning she cant play with friends after school, use her iPad, ! Thanks so much for the tips!!!!
DeleteHave you tried talking to her about it during a time when she is calm...like maybe the night before? I know when everything is just rolling smooth I don't always think to discuss those stressful moments but maybe just sympathizing with her about how hard mornings are for everyone and asking for her input in how you might make it smoother for her. Have you tried to just start praying over her? I know it sounds crazy to turn to that with all the chaos and I will be the first to tell you I am the worst prayer ever. Carly doesn't have issues in the morning but a few times she has gotten overly anxious about a situation and I try to reason with her and finally I have asked if I could pray for her...after she surprisingly calmed down.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this advice!!!! I do try and talk with her about it at night before bed but well than the morning happens! Ha! Thanks for the tips girl!!!! Have a great day!
Deletewe have been there. I ended up waking her up earlier and turnin on music in her room. This way she had about 20 minutes of time just to play and read before the chaos of a school morning began. I think she just didnt like the frantic nature of a school morning and she wanted my attention but i was busy getting ready too. So now I crawl into bed with her and talk. We did make her bedtime earlier too. Much Much better morning! I agree with the earlier poster as tempting as it is she should get NO attiention during a tantrum at all in fact I would go and sit down and let her see you talkig and eating with her brother, if she wants your attention she needs to come to the table
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. And I agree I need to work on just ignoring her tantrums. I appreciate the advice. Have a great weekend
DeleteHave you considered homeschooling?
ReplyDeleteWe have thought about it, but once she gets to school she really loves it. So weird !!! Thanks so much for reading. Have a great weekend
DeleteThe little girl I nanny has these tantrums too but about 10 times worse, it sounds like there is a murder happening in the house she screams so loud. I try and tell myself that sometimes when I wake up in the morning I'm pissed off and just want to crawl back in bed and not go to work but I'm a big girl and I know I'm not allowed to do that. Kids feel the same way sometimes they just don't know how to deal with that feeling so it results in these tantrums. We realized that she starts throwing these tantrums when it's time to get on the bus and she has to stop playing with her toys or watching TV .. so we started putting her to bed earlier and waking her up 15-20 mins earlier so she has time to play or watch an episode of her show and we tell her that "you can watch 1 episode then it's time to go to school" as of right now we are down to 1 tantrum a week instead of 1 everyday. So i would try and figure out what is setting her off and then try to do something to fix that for her. Also I'm not saying this to offend you or anything at all, I feel you i really do and sometimes I want to video her tantruming and just show her how rediculous she sounds but I don't because it can make them feel like you're making fun the real feelings that they are feeling in that moment. Hope things get better for you :)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your tips! Definitely not offended! The last two days have been great. No tears and no tantrums..maybe because she is learning or maybe because she knows she is going to the circus tomorrow and we told her she has to behave in the mornings. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and for the tips!!! Have a great weekend
ReplyDelete