Friday, October 3, 2008

Nap and Toy He*l*!!!

Ok I know a few weeks ago I posted that triplet toddlers can be fun and while I still think this "can" be true that is not my current prospective! These days things are so challenging and James is still my biggest challenge.

First off since switching to toddler beds 2 weeks ago the kids are still going down great at night with no fight or playing. Naps however are pure hell!!! I am having to sit in their room or sleep on their floor for them to fall asleep and some days it takes an hour to get them to fall asleep. I am in no way ready to take naps out of our day and really I don't think they are either. I have tried everything leaving the door open, yelling, begging, threatening, bribing and yes spanking to no avail. Abigail usually settles right down and Katie doesn't get out of bed just sits up and talks to James. James will not stay in his bed unless I'm in the room and even then he will kick the wall, bang his head on the wall, talk, sit with his feet off the side of the bed anything but lay down and go to sleep. On the days that I work at 4am I just take my pillows and blankets and sleep on the floor this works but when I don't work I would like to get some things done.

Our other problem is cleaning up toys. My kids come by this honestly because I am not a good housekeeper by any means and kids or no kids I never have been. My mom loves to tell the story of when I was their age and I was told to stay in my room until it was cleaned up and several hours later my brother finally cleaned it up for me because he wanted to play!

I've tried all the same things as nap time and I've even told them I was going to throw their toys away, this worked once or twice and then they said ok. So 2 days ago I started filling up the trash bag fully expecting a big fight, but to my surprise the fight only last 1 minute and they were over it!! I took the toys to the garage and the next day filled it some more, the real surprise was they helped me!!! Seriously these kids started throwing their toys away and didn't care when I said the trash man was going to take them!!! Really what is wrong with them? Is this my paybacks for being such an awful housekeeper? How do I correct this before it gets any worse? I am really at a loss and wish that I could send them to day care just so someone else could teach them how to pick up. On the other hand give them a baby wipe and they can "clean" everything in the play room for hours!

Anyway I'll close this with some fun pics from the last week we went to the park and to the zoo lots of fun!!!


We got to be among the first to see the new
baby lion cubs at the Fort Worth Zoo,
this mama has quads!
Abigail riding her bike!!
James "riding" his friends big bike
Abigail pushing Katie

6 comments:

Dorinda said...

I hear you on the toys thing. And it only gets worse! I spend time cleaning it all up and the place looks great. Two hours later you can't even tell I did anything. What's the point?!! Now I have the fun job and selling everything on :) And I'm so ready to get rid of so much stuff!! I hope you can get more organized too. If I lived closer we could help each other. I think some organizer should specialize in triplet based clutter. What do you think?

Amber S. said...

No clue how to help ya' there! I will just start praying NOW that Jacob and Caleb will transition to toddler beds well in a few months. (*yikes!*)

I have been thinking about you though... when is your surgery? I only knew "in October," and now October is here! Keep me filled in. Unfortunately, my hands are still a little full this way, but I can for sure send some prayers your way.

Hang in there,

-Amber

Brandy said...

It will be ok, my little guys are just now learning to clean up. Alison is the best and will not go to sleep if her room is messy. The boys could care less if their room was clean or not. That battle will get easier, I promise.

Brandy

Kelli said...

I just tried to leave a comment, so i hope it doesn't appear twice!!!

Just wanted to say that I completely hear you on everything....but especially the nap issue with beds......it has been such a struggle, i even got black out shades for their room to make it darker and even that is not really working!!! I am about to just give up today and go get them, since they are bouncing off the wall!!!

sooooo frustrating!!!

Unknown said...

How many trash bags did you fill up? Are there any toys left? The good news is...even if it didn't seem to phase them ~ at least there are fewer toys for you to have to pick up when they don't, right?! Just trying to make you smile dear friend! You know I have the opposite problem with my OCD kids :-) Mine will tell you when you put a toy away in the wrong spot and won't allow me to throw anything away! Love ya, Cyn

Michele S said...

Once mine got out of crib tents at the ripe old age of 3.4 years old, I spent the next 1.5 laying in their room up to an hour until they went to sleep. A YEAR AND A HALF. To make a long story short, I was well rested during that time since I most always fell asleep and took a nap too. Me time? I didn't have any.

On the bright side, they are almost five and still nap and I don't have to lay with them anymore. It only took 3000 hours to get here. May God give you strength. :)