Yesterday my husband came home from work around 5:20. Before I even offered him a greeting I shouted 'I need a cocktail now! I can't handle the whining!' Welcome home!
I'm not sure how often other people's kids whine, but some days it feels like ours whine all day long! I cannot express how freaking anxious I am for them to start talking more. I can only hope that developing their speech will help eliminate the whining.
A quick example from yesterday: Ella woke up from her nap and wanted a snack. She walked out to the kitchen and started whining. I asked her what do you want? She replied with more whining. I asked her to tell me what she wanted. She whined. I asked her if she wanted water to which she replied 'yeah. yeah.' Then I asked her why she couldn't just say the word water and eliminate the whining. She just stared at me in response.
Getting meals prepared and cooked can be quite challenging. The only thing I have found that give me at least 5 minute increments to complete something is letting them watch tv. So while I am getting dinner ready, they watch tv. If I don't have dinner served by 5:30 the whining hits a whole new level! They are STARVING and must eat by 5:30 to keep the peace so I'm under a lot of pressure in that kitchen. Even with the tv on, someone is sure to touch the other, sit in the others chair, steal the others water or doll or plane and whining ensues. I have to walk out to the living room to smooth over whatever problem is happening before the whining will stop. Cooking is stressful! I miss the carefree days of leisurely cooking a delicious meal.
Some days it feels like I say 'stop whining' 498234234 times. I probably do. Does it help? Nope. I encourage them to use words and talk all damn day, but it doesn't help. Whining is the preferred way to communicate right now. Have I mentioned how anxious I am for them to talk?
So there ya have it. My kids whine. A lot. Really, a lot. It drives me batty. I don't know how to fix it. I can cope with a brandy old fashioned at the end of the day on those particularly whine-filled days. That's the only solution I have found to help ease my irritation from all the whining.
4 comments:
Ugh, that is tough. I feel for you.
Does she know the word "water" and just wasn't using it? If yes, did you make her say water before you gave it to her? Like "if you want water, say 'water' and I will give it to you" and then wait silently for several seconds to give her a chance to say it, that kind of thing. There seems to be a very strong element of actual practical training that I have been doing with the kids. Asking them to repeat me. Asking them to say the word (and telling them what word it is I am looking for) before I give them the object, and letting them have a tantrum if they refuse to say the word.
Ugh but we have been there with the whining and it does get better with speech. There's still whining but now that I know their vocabulary is basically unlimited I can say "is there a word for what you want" and let them think about it. You'll get through it !!!
Oh, I SO hear you on the whining. I'm afraid Liam is the worst offender though, so I can't claim it gets better with age. That kid is a master whiner. We try to tell him "that's not how we ask for things" etc, but it's still pretty constant. Obviously OJ whine too, and they are likely learning a ton of it from him.
I don't know how anyone can get any kind of decent dinner made. If it takes longer than 10 minutes, we're OUT. I love the blog updates from you, BTW!
I need to get better at making them say the words. I'm terrible when I'm in a rush to just hand it to them so we can move on.
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