- Thread starter
- #631
Have you ever been so annoyed, that you could not speak? Believe it or not, I do feel that way sometimes. Lately it has been happening a lot. I think I am about to snap. Oh, joy.
When it comes to parenting, we all do it different. That being said, I don't know that anyone has an exact schedule for a baby/toddler. You can't control when they wake in the night or morning. They can't communicate to tell you that they are in pain, and that is why they aren't going to sleep. So, bedtime can be 'about' a certain time, but not exactly. Here, sleeping has recently changed. This is due to Duckling finally catching on (I have teaching her) to calling my name when she is awake. It was funny at first. She could not believe how it worked every time. Her eyes would get big, and she would laugh and jump in excitement that she had such power! Now, it keeps her from getting as much sleep. She half wakes and calls before she is ready.
So, the new pattern is up around 8, down between 12:30 and 1:30 (depending on when she needs it). Up at 4, down anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30. If she is so tired that she needs a 6:30 bedtime, stories are cut out BY HER. She will cry the whole time I am changing her, and try to climb into her crib. She wants sleep, and she wants it now! She is always asleep in under five minutes. The crying stops as soon as I lay her down.
7:30 has happened once. I had her bathed and stories read starting at seven, and only because she had been with someone else, and had fallen asleep until five. She is not a well
Public forum. I don't want the wrong person seeing my anger.
Okay, so it was a bad night last night. She was ready for stories at 6:30 (this is normal) but honestly could have just gone to sleep then. I kept her up, and dealt with the tears. 7:30. Where are her parents? 8:00. She fell again, this time banging her head pretty good. As she laid in my arms, falling asleep, I about died. She is not cuddly. Not cold, but she was never a cuddly baby. So she was laying there staring at me. She looked so sweet and trusting. Her hand was clinging to my shirt, her eyes drooping. It reminded me of the life I am living. Or not living as the case may be.
A certain someone on here (two actually) likes to point out that I don't drive. I used to. That is another story. This woman sits in her house with neighbors that are cousins (and in a strange twist, Duckling's father is my b-i-l and now my cousin. Her mother was my cousin and now my s-i-l) staring in the windows, and watching her every move. I have no friends or family to call or spend time with. I have no idea what my husband is up to. So I sit. And I wait. And I pray. Ohhh do I pray! And I try to raise a child that is not mine. A child that has some bad habits (nail biting, chewing her cuticles, ripping off nails, picking her nose, pitching fits that adults have taught her because they thought it was funny a few months ago, messing her pants after being potty trained by me, saying words wrong... The family of wonderful Christians is teaching her to swear!) already. Some are expected. But when I teach her a good thing (she said "Love you" not "wuvoo" like the adults are teaching her now) I hate seeing her doing the wrong thing. It baffles me.
Back to the sleep. Sorry. Her parents never called. At a quarter of nine an aunt showed up. She said that Duckling never goes to bed until about nine.
No naps, up at 7 there, and she goes to bed at nine? No wonder they think she is hard to handle! No wonder every time she comes here, she is sobbing at six, and put to bed soon after without stories. Then I got more ticked. I was asked to watch her tonight or tomorrow morning while the aunts and gm go do some things. It was "can you watch her for us". SHE ISN'T YOUR CHILD! It is not "for" you! And where are her biological parents? Why on earth are they trying for a second again?
Guys, there is something important you need to know. If Duckling had not been here last February, I would be with my husband still (he was going to go for counseling before this mess happened), and I would have a nine-month-old baby of my own. I protected her instead of my own body. Duckling was a living, breathing tangible baby. I will not be sorry. But I called her parents non stop, begging them to take her back those few days. They did not want her.
When it comes to parenting, we all do it different. That being said, I don't know that anyone has an exact schedule for a baby/toddler. You can't control when they wake in the night or morning. They can't communicate to tell you that they are in pain, and that is why they aren't going to sleep. So, bedtime can be 'about' a certain time, but not exactly. Here, sleeping has recently changed. This is due to Duckling finally catching on (I have teaching her) to calling my name when she is awake. It was funny at first. She could not believe how it worked every time. Her eyes would get big, and she would laugh and jump in excitement that she had such power! Now, it keeps her from getting as much sleep. She half wakes and calls before she is ready.
So, the new pattern is up around 8, down between 12:30 and 1:30 (depending on when she needs it). Up at 4, down anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30. If she is so tired that she needs a 6:30 bedtime, stories are cut out BY HER. She will cry the whole time I am changing her, and try to climb into her crib. She wants sleep, and she wants it now! She is always asleep in under five minutes. The crying stops as soon as I lay her down.
7:30 has happened once. I had her bathed and stories read starting at seven, and only because she had been with someone else, and had fallen asleep until five. She is not a well
Okay, so it was a bad night last night. She was ready for stories at 6:30 (this is normal) but honestly could have just gone to sleep then. I kept her up, and dealt with the tears. 7:30. Where are her parents? 8:00. She fell again, this time banging her head pretty good. As she laid in my arms, falling asleep, I about died. She is not cuddly. Not cold, but she was never a cuddly baby. So she was laying there staring at me. She looked so sweet and trusting. Her hand was clinging to my shirt, her eyes drooping. It reminded me of the life I am living. Or not living as the case may be.
A certain someone on here (two actually) likes to point out that I don't drive. I used to. That is another story. This woman sits in her house with neighbors that are cousins (and in a strange twist, Duckling's father is my b-i-l and now my cousin. Her mother was my cousin and now my s-i-l) staring in the windows, and watching her every move. I have no friends or family to call or spend time with. I have no idea what my husband is up to. So I sit. And I wait. And I pray. Ohhh do I pray! And I try to raise a child that is not mine. A child that has some bad habits (nail biting, chewing her cuticles, ripping off nails, picking her nose, pitching fits that adults have taught her because they thought it was funny a few months ago, messing her pants after being potty trained by me, saying words wrong... The family of wonderful Christians is teaching her to swear!) already. Some are expected. But when I teach her a good thing (she said "Love you" not "wuvoo" like the adults are teaching her now) I hate seeing her doing the wrong thing. It baffles me.
Back to the sleep. Sorry. Her parents never called. At a quarter of nine an aunt showed up. She said that Duckling never goes to bed until about nine.
Guys, there is something important you need to know. If Duckling had not been here last February, I would be with my husband still (he was going to go for counseling before this mess happened), and I would have a nine-month-old baby of my own. I protected her instead of my own body. Duckling was a living, breathing tangible baby. I will not be sorry. But I called her parents non stop, begging them to take her back those few days. They did not want her.
I have no words, except to tell you how lucky duckling is to have you in her life.
