My kids can be so sweet to each other. Then there are moments when C4 is terribly mean to A2. She says she does it to get my attention – as if being mean to her sister wasn’t enough! A2 is always thinking of C4 and is almost always kind to her. When I see this kind of cruelty, it infuriates me. Has this ever happened to you? I can’t stand to have either of my children get hurt by another kid on purpose, but when it is my child hurting her sibling just to get attention, I simply cannot take it!

I must add that we still have not found a solution to this problem. I can’t ignore it because it would be dangerous to A2 to do that. Time-out doesn’t work either. We have talked with C4 about this kind of behavior being unacceptable, and that has not helped the situation either.  I know that it quite possibly a phase, but I am hopeful that we can end the phase sooner than later!

I am praying for peace in my home! I am teaching kindness and encouraging thoughtfulness. I know that they hear everything that I don’t want them to hear, so I am hoping that they might hear this!

What do you do about situations like this?

I usually sleep during nap time because my kids are so busy. I am simply exhausted. With all of the sleeping problems that we have had these days, I have really needed the nap, but I don’t always get it. Today the kids actually fell asleep for a long while at nap time, so I decided to take time for me. I did some work on the computer, but I knew that I truly needed to rest before the peace was over, so I caught a few z’s on the couch.

Well, I was still sleeping when C4 woke up. She tried everything to get me to get up including bouncing on top of me. I just needed the rest so I kept my eyes closed and told her that I would get up soon. She even tried to impress me by reading a word on one of her books. She then proceeded to show me how she could find smaller words within that word. She was pulling out all of the stops, desperate for attention!

I know that I should have gotten up because clearly she wanted some time with me before A2 got up, but I was so tired that I simply couldn’t. I used to feel awful about myself when that would happen, but now I realize that it is all a part of life. I am not damaging my kids because I am too tired to pay attention to them at a particular moment. It is a good lesson in patience for us both, I suppose!

How do you manage the exhaustion that comes with mothering? What works for your kids?