This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 12:01 am and is filed under Time Out. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
This is it! The very first installment of my weeklong series, Time Out. In case you missed my last post, I was lucky (or pathetic) enough to persuade five lovely moms to come graciously to my assistance by discussing their own experiences with parenting. Five moms, five questions, five different answers. One a day every day this week. It’s like NaBloPoMo, only more manageable and much more interesting. To learn a little more about the ladies on the panel, you can read up on them here. This is a big deal for me, so I encourage everyone to share their opinions and join in the discussion. Let’s rock the first question, shall we?
Throughout the lives of any of your children, what is the most irritating and frustrating challenge you have experienced in their upbringing? What techniques did/have you used to overcome it?
McMommy
The McMommy Chronicles
My most irritating and frustrating challenge is dealing with two potty-trained boys, their lack of attention to their aim, and my bathroom. I liken it to what I can only assume it must be like to live in a frat house. Or be the poor person who has to clean a bar bathroom Sunday morning.
Mr. Lady
Whiskey In My Sippy Cup
I have one kid that is me, exactly. And it’s the most annoying thing ever. I have to work very hard to not come down on him harder than my other children simply because I see my flaws in him. It’s hard to let him work his way through all of the crap I had to work my way through, independently. Because, really, no one ever wants to look into the mirror that shows them all their flaws, but I went and made one.
Kori Jones
See Kori Rant
My middle son Sam is so terribly bright, very funny, and a natural performer. The biggest frustration has been for me to find a way to challenge his intelligence and let him simply be who he IS, without placing my own expectations on him. At the same time, he is extremely hyper, he has asthma for which he takes medicine that makes him even more so, and he acts out. A lot. So for me, finding a balance between allowing him to express himself fully without crossing the line into outright awful behaviour is really hard. I imagine that Jim Carrey’s mom had the same problems:”Stop with the damn voices already and clean.your.room!” As for how I manage this? Poorly, most of the time. I find myself needing time outs from him on occasion, which doesn’t help the behavior any but allows me to calm down so that I don’t smother him in a fit of rage.
Aline Pfingsten
RedSparks
Potty training (or lack thereof) has been the biggest hurdle I have yet to cross. Boy was I wrong thinking that my daughter would be out of diapers at 2! HA! I thought once she got it, it’s done and over with but no. The potty is not our friend. I’ve gotten great advice; and I’ve read everything there is to know about the subject, yet we still have accidents from time to time. I made some mistakes along the way probably right at the beginning and I’m paying for them now. The kid is almost 5! It’s been frustrating especially when she’s home and avoids going to the bathroom, maybe on purpose? Maybe for attention. I’ve given up on it and don’t react. Somehow, someday she’ll get it.
Barbara Boucher
TherExtras
Meeting the teen years has been the most challenging for us. For something that took more than a decade to creep-up on us, the refusals and back-talking in a person near your own size was as sudden and crushing as a heart attack. Who are you and what have you done with my child?
We suffered greatly from children who did not want to get up in the morning. As with other misbehavior, it seemed like a judgment call every.single.day. To punish or not, that is the question.
How to overcome these stresses? Wait it out. I mean, there’s hope that the teen years will pass. I mean, each of us is proof of that, eh? Endure Persevere. Persevere in believing in yourself and your child’s ability to grow-up despite you because of every single decision you make.
Terrific answers, everyone, thank you. You notice how I led with this question? Not a coincidence. One of the things that I find most fulfilling about writing this blog is the interaction when it comes to this very topic. Whenever I feel like I’m at my wit’s end with my children, my blog is always here to let me know that I am, most certainly not alone. It’s tough, being in charge of someone’s life.
How about you? If you had to pick the most frustrating challenge you’ve come across with any of your children, what would it be and what did you do about it?
-Matt
This series isn’t about me, but I will say that browsing through the amazing selection of baby clothes at RedSparks, our online shop, always makes it all better. 
January 25th, 2010 at 5:40 am
[...] forget to stop by The Playpen this morning for my friend Matt’s series called Time Out; he is featuring five very [...]
January 25th, 2010 at 7:14 am
Our most recent frustration has been lying but I think we’ve got it well underhand now.
It’s the meltdowns- the tantrums. I am far more understanding when they are in reaction to something- not getting their way. But when they come out of NOWHERE and there is no containing it- you just have to buckle down and get through it… Yikes!
Eternal Lizdom´s last blog ..Traveling Teddy
[reply]
Matt Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
@Eternal Lizdom, We have been dealing with lying too, although I’m not entirely sure its being done with bad intentions. Either way, I’m not sure what to do about it until she gets a little older.
[reply]
January 25th, 2010 at 8:10 am
I had to laugh at Kori’s sentence about Jim Carrey’s mom!
My frustrations are in line with Mr Lady’s and Barbara Boucher. My oldest is not quite a teen at 12, but she’s showing a lot of the oh-so-fun signs of what’s to come.
April´s last blog ..The past is now the present
[reply]
Matt Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
@April, I don’t think I can even THINK about that yet.
[reply]
Barbara Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
@Matt, Man up, Matt. Thinking about it before your brain freezes from the reality.
Barbara´s last blog ..Dry Winter
[reply]
January 25th, 2010 at 9:01 am
I totally wrote Kori’s Jim Carrey line down and hung it on my fridge. Words to live by, those.
Mr Lady´s last blog ..If The Paranoia Doesn’t Destroy Me, The Insomnia Sure Will
[reply]
Matt Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
@Mr Lady, That line works on many different levels, doesn’t it? I’ve actually said it to myself a few times.
[reply]
January 25th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Ya know whats driving me nuts? I’ve been TRYING to teach my 3 year old son Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” now for at least 2 weeks. He’s got a sweet little junior acoustic (a latin Requinto, but he doesn’t know the difference) Despite my efforts, the little kid CAN’T bar that F Chord for the life of him. I mean c’mon dude, get that pointer finger barred across the full FIRST FRET. I need to hear it RING buddy. And don’t go trying to cheat, cause I’ve seen you trying to play the shortcut.
Newsflash: It’s not the same without the LOW tone my friend. Yes, I know you can jam Linkin Park and The Foo Fighters…but what about the 80′s?? Will over skill little man.
Hold that chord tight, Daddy’s retirement plan in starting to loose it’s luster.
[reply]
Barbara Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
@Carl Spackler, Matt, is that you?
Barbara´s last blog ..Dry Winter
[reply]
Matt Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
@Barbara, No, although it DOES kind of sound like me, doesn’t it?
[reply]
January 25th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Ok, the geek in me is coming out but I can’t stop staring at how all our titles and pictures and responses look so neat and organized! You done good, Matt. You done good.
[reply]
Matt Reply:
January 25th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
@McMommy, Yep! I wonder if you can do that in Blogger? Probably not.
[reply]