Bedtime Battles

OK. She wins. Baby is officially the. most. difficult. toddler. in our family to put to bed.

Let me offer proof with an example. The other night. Put Baby (otherwise known affectionately as "Monster" - I've been calling her that a lot the last couple of weeks.) to bed at a reasonable hour and sat down at my desk to attend to bills, etc. Within approximately thirty seconds she was out of bed.

She stood in the doorway, poised to run - waited for me to look her in the eye and then legged it back to bed. This is a frequent occurence. In case you don't understand the use of the word "frequent" this often happens ten or more times in an evening. The administration of firm "consequences" appears not to be a deterrent to this behaviour.

Finally the other night, I got smart and shut the door after I put her back to bed. Immediately - and I mean immediately, I heard the unmistakable sounds of a nappy being removed. This is what we call emotional blackmail. However, I was going to be smarter than the toddler. With steely resolve I held my ground and did not rush in to restore the nappy to its rightful place. Once Monster eventually fell asleep (as she surely would), then I would put the nappy back on. That was my plan.

I was reminded of my plan at two in the morning when I woke to the sound of Monster bellowing, "MuuuuuuuMMMYYYY! MuuuuuuMMMMYYYY! I do wees!!!" Yes, she surely won. The Baby lured me into her room once again to deal with a very, very wet bed and to put back on the nappy.

Moments after I stumbled back to my own bed, there was a pitter-pat of feet and a small person appeared at my bedside. Foiled again - I had foolishly left her bedroom door open.

I keep saying, that kid is SOOOO lucky that's she's really cute.

Juggling Chainsaws

Toddlers are hard work. Some more so than others. Trying to homeschool older children while keeping a toddler safely occupied and running a household is a mammoth task. For some more than for others.

There are many wonderful suggestions for dealing with toddlers and preschoolers while homeschooling, but for many of us they are simply unrealistic. Some are too expensive, some too messy, some rely on resources, space or storage that many of us don't have. Some (dare I say it) come from mothers who actually weren't homeschooling when their youngest were toddlers. And some rely on having the kind of child who will not scream and try to claw their way out of any kind of restraint. The kind of child who has the fine motor control and intelligence necessary to plug in appliances and turn them on. The kind of child who has the strength of will of a pit-bull. The kind of child who, when sent outside, will eat dirt and then bring some inside to scatter randomly throughout the house.

This is not a cop-out - I'm not throwing up my hands and giving up on making any effort at reining in the toddler. She is being taught, step by step, what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. However, this process takes precious time and energy, and while she is learning these lessons, there is a lot of chaos. Even with the very best of efforts (and I'll be the first to admit, that I often don't put in my best effort, to my shame), there is no quick fix for a strong-willed toddler - no magic potion for ensuring that the older kids get a fair share of Mum's attention.

Such children, of course, need to be discipled (I use that word deliberately, because I'm talking about more than simply punishing for bad behaviour). That process, of necessity, takes time away from the teaching of older children.

Several months ago, our family watched a street performer juggling chainsaws. That image, for me, represents my life at the moment. No, this isn't the cue to send the older kids to school. Our reasons for homeschooling them remain as strong as ever. I just have to keep slogging away, keep doing my job as God leads me, regardless of how hard it gets. Right is never impossible. As long as I stick close to God, He will enable me to throw the necessary mountains into the sea. He will equip me to juggle chainsaws.