First- I am looking for a little advice! I need a good book for emotional children. Seriously...Zach and I are really struggling to communicate. He is either really sweet or he is like a tornado. When he is in the "tornado" mood there is nothing that works. He walks/skips around the house causing trouble right and left. Purposely doing things to make who ever is near him upset. Knocking over toys, turning off his brothers show, taking his sister's doll and running. When he gets in trouble he just smiles. Nothing works...Talking...nope! Time out...nope! Threats of loosing a treat...nope! Nothing works! I don't know what to do! Any ideas?
Second-I am loosing my passion for food! Yep you read that right! Nothing sounds good right now! I need to eat to keep both my body and the baby healthy, but everything sounds gross. Well...there are a few exceptions: Mac and Cheese, snickers bars, and juice! Because of this I have a hard time even wanting to cook dinner for the family. I need some new, quick, easy recipes that sound super yummy. HELP! A girl can't live on Mac alone!
4 months ago
12 comments:
Poor mama! I hate that pregnancy stage where you can't stand to think about food anymore. My recommendations revolve around the crock pot. I love love love to cook but sometimes when I know it will be a crazy night, I plan ahead with a the crockpot. When I was pregnant it was great because I had a decent amount of energy in the morning or early afternoon...perfect for throwing stuff in. I can help you convert almost any recipe too. Our favorites include spaghetti sauce with sausage and herbs, taco soup, roasted chicken and various pastas. Tell me (besides Snickers-I can't work with that!) what you ARE attracted to and I bet I can come up with some recipes for you!
As for Zach, get on your knees girl! Actually, don't literally get on your knees to pray because you might not get back up with that prego belly. I guarantee you will find a solution.
Also, I love the Supernanny's book! She pushes positive reinforcement (which I'm sure you are already great at) and finding the root of the problem. Good luck! You'll get through it!
A friend of mine took a class a little while ago called Parenting with Love and Logic. I don't know if you have heard about this class, but there is a book that goes along with it that I know you can get at Barnes and Noble or a similar book store like that. It is a little more expensive, but I hear that it is well worth it. Let's just say that her child's nickname was Asher the Thrasher.
As far as cooking we use a lot of chicken. Hawaiian Haystacks with canned chicken is one of our favorites as is fried chicken and mashed potatoes. These two are super quick and yummy. We also love what we call taco pie (aka taco salad). Both Hawaiian Haystacks and Taco Pie have a lot of veggies to go on top and make for good leftovers for lunch the next day for me. I don't know if this is helpful, but if you want the recipes just give me a call and I will be more than happy to give them to you.
Other than that I am with you on the mac and cheese.
Sorry babe, his nick name is Zach Attack! :) I wish I was there and I would come over and cook you dinner and bring the kids to my house. The dinner would include homemade macaroni casserole, and snickers salad(if you haven't had it, it's way yummo!)
I have read parenting with love and logic, I liked quite a bit of the concepts, not all, but most. I also agree if your not up to it talk to your awesome friend about crockpotting, it's the way to go!
I wish I was there sis! I love you! Call me when you need to let it all out!
One of my favorite sites for crockpotting was sent to me by my cousin. It's http://crockpot365.blogspot.com. I would link it for you, but I don't know how to do that. Check it out; I use it all the time and she has some really great recipies. I hope that it helps!
The thing that we have found that works with Melina - because of all the problems she has - is to find what their "thing" is. It could be outside time, a certain toy, a blanket; etc. With her, it was her bike and playing with friends. I made it clear that "if she did 'this', then she would loose her bike for 3 days." And then follow through with it.
Don't let him whine or cry about it or make you feel guilty; it was his choice to do the thing he wasn't suppose to do and he understood the consequences. I would have Melina repeat to me what the consequence would be so I knew she understood.
Her favorite excuse was, "I forgot!" To which I would reply, "Well, this will help you to remember next time." Stick to your guns (which may be hard while pregnant!), but it has helped her a lot with her behavior.
The hardest thing I learned was to not let them see any emotion. Don't let them see you rattled, or mad, or upset. That's when they know they got you. And they like that. Just be blank and calm about it because it was their choice; they chose to do it.
And be sure to reward the good behavior. Like when he walks by and doesn't punch Bailey. I could explain to you our reward system if you want sometime. It has worked with all the kids. Sorry this was long; I hope it helps!
You are a wonderful mother. Try not to get too discouraged. He's going to grow up to be a combination of those things. A really sweet tornado and he'll be able to accomplish a lot of good because of it.
Try hashbrown pizza. Stick some frozen hashbrowns on a circle pizza stone for the crust. Add some scrambled eggs, ham, bacon bits, cheese, or whatever toppings you like. Bake it until the hashbrowns aren't cold. My kids really like it. When I am totally not in the mood to cook I have a "build your own sandwich" meal. Just pull out everything you can think of and let the kids make their own creations. They like it because they made it themselves. I also have tons of Quick Cooking magazines. You should bring the kids over sometime and we can look for some good easy recipes.
Wow, you guys are good. I would just tell Travis and Zach that they are going to make dinner together every night and then I would go lay down with a Snickers or two until it was ready. My mom keeps telling me to read some book called 'Don't Feed the Dog' or 'Don't Pet the Dog' or something. I don't really like animals so I don't want to read it, but she says it's the best for helping behavior (in people too). Anyway, could you just read that for me and let me know what to do with my kids? Just kidding! Don't forget to take a multi-vitamin.
Just remember honey, both you and I were probably described at some point as "tornadoes" by our parents when we were younger.
If we continue to provide him with love, latitude, and limits, then we can harness his energy and he will be fine. You are a wonderful mother! Keep it up!
Don't shoot the dog. Let me know how it turns out. :)
Okay I have issues with a child on a daily basis and I have to agree 100% with Jenelle. Positive reinforcements go a long way. Not showing emotion does too. Having a schedule goes even farther. I can explain more about how to make a schedule for a 5 year old if you like that idea, but it's amazing what happens when your child has a purpose. Hang in there (this all comes from Ben's MANY therapists).
Oh and the eating thing, could we maybe just trade taste buds for a while. Then you'll gain the weight you need and maybe I'll lose! Seriously I hate to cook already, so I can't help you out. Long live McDonalds!
I dont have any advice on getting Zach to calm down, but I am sure I will need your guidance when our Zach is bigger. I have been told by several people that Zacharys are always high energy, I guess it is true for you guys!
As for food, I subscribe to several blogs that post reciepes daily that are suppost to be giving me inspiration but honestly we could live off of hamburger helper, lame I know. Some foods that go over well here are homemade pizza, homemade chicken nuggets, and a hamburger/corn/potato bake. Good luck finding something else to eat, with Olivia I think I lived off of candy and grapefruit.
My favorite (because it's easy) recipe: Zesty Italian Chicken.
Cube 4-5 chicken breasts, put them in a crock pot. Put 1/2 cube butter (sliced) in, 8 oz. cream cheese (sliced) in, and sprinkle Italian Dressing Mix over the top. Cook for 5 hours on low, then add 1 can cream of chicken soup and a tiny bit of milk to get the texture you want. Serve over rice. It's EASY and SOOOOO nummy! Adam also likes to eat it in tortillas or over spaghetti noodles. Good luck! :)
Clara always said that food tastes better when I cook it (Shane). Have Travis put on his arpon and whip up something to eat and see if that helps. Even if it still tastes gross, at least you can get Travis to make dinner.
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