Battles

This weekend, for the very first time in a very long time, my kids were driving me absolutely insane. Everything was a battle, from beginning to end: Eat your food! Don't throw your food! I am talking to you! Do not push your sister! We need to change your diaper now! You have to share! Stop whining!

SATURDAY
On Saturday, while Isabella took a nap, I took Sofia shopping with me. She needed tennis shoes, and I needed to return couple things. Once at the store, she decided she wanted me to buy her baby, to which I said no. "But I want it!", she said. I reminded her she had tons of babies at home, and that we were not there to buy any toys. She then proceeded to completely lose it, and continued screaming "I want that baby! I want that baby! I want that babyyyyyyy!" All this while I stood there and wondered what in the world was wrong with her. Amazingly enough I managed to keep my cool. I guess one of us had to. So I repeated that I was NOT going to buy her the baby, and that we were heading home. As I made my way through the store she walked right behind me, screaming at the top of her lungs. And I tried not to pay attention to the ugly looks we were probably getting from everybody around us. Eventually she did calm down. As we were walking to the car she asked if I would buy her a pretzel, to which I clearly said NO. And that was too bad, because I really wanted one.

That night, for whatever reason, Bella could not sleep. Around midnight I ended up taking her to our bed, and although she finally fell asleep, that translated into a terrible night for me. She moved around all night, and had me on the edge of the bed.

SUNDAY
Since she did not sleep so well, Bella was in a bad mood most of the day. And Sofia did not listen to pretty much anything we had to say. She complained about everything, whined endlessly, and once again threw a tantrum because there was something she did not want to share. We told her that if she was going to be selfish, then we were all going to act that way. And the TV for instance was Lionel's and mine, and as such, she could not watch it anymore. Instead of calming her down, that only got her going some more. "I want to watch TV", she said multiple times, each time louder than the previous one. I was so fed up with her that she ended up going to bed without me even saying good night, much less staying with her for a few minutes, our usual routine.

MONDAY
And this was our bonus day. Today the neighbors invited us over for lunch, which was clearly a nice detail since it was them, their family, and us. Sofia was Ok at the beginning, but once again lost it once it was time to actually sit down at eat. She said she did not want to sit at the kids table, even though she knew the other kids sitting there. We told her she either sat down or we were going home, but she wouldn't calm down. So Lionel ended up walking back home with her, while Isabella and I stayed. Eventually they came back, once she finally calmed down. She did not deserve to be there, but she couldn't stay home by herself, and Lionel did not want to be rude to the neighbors by not showing up again. And have I mentioned that Isabella didn't take a nap? After lunch the kids played for a little while, but by then Isabella was tired and cranky so around four we headed home. I then drove around with her so she took a nap in the car. After another battle we gave them a shower, had dinner, had another fight with Sofia about not sharing with her sister, and finally put them down. And once again, thanks to her bad behavior, Sofia went to bed without a good night from me.

So that's it! That is how we spent our weekend: Fighting with the ones we love the most. Isabella is always a handful, but I am not sure what is going on with Sofia. She has always been a whiner, but flat out throwing tantrums is out of character for her. Maybe she is already picking up bad habits from school. Maybe the transition to kindergarten is being so tough on her that she insists on fighting for things she thinks she can control. I am not sure, but I certainly wish I knew.