My mama sins...exposed

We all know that there are a lot of things that mamas are just not supposed to do.  I am guilty to a lot of them, and I usually feel pretty guilty every time, even if nobody is around.  With 2 children in their toddler years, there are days that it gets so hard around here I am just happy I make it to nap time and then bedtime, but then other days are so easy that I wonder why I don't get more done every day. Sometimes when Reed comes home from work and the house looks like an earthquake and tornado happened at the same time, I can just see the look of "what in the world do you do all day?!" There was a time when he actually said that!  So what did I do?  I promptly left him with the boys for a whole weekend and went to visit Autumn at Norman (his first alone weekend ever with the boys!).  I wanted to see if he was able to hold it together while I was gone...sure enough the house was worse than when I have the boys and he has a whole new level of respect for me and my job.  I may get "the look" sometimes, but it is because he is a completely obsessed neat freak and he can't completely help it.

My top 5 sins that bother me the most:

1.) I feed my children mac n cheese, ramen noodles, and (gasp) McDonalds Chicken nuggets!! 

         I  hate doing this!  It literally makes me cringe, but they just love it sooo much.  I try and only feed them this stuff in a pinch or when they absolutely refuse to eat anything else.  I tried the rule "they will eat when they are hungry" and it didn't work!!  Max went on hunger strike for 3 days once, only living off juice and milk.  I was standing strong that if he didn't eat any of the healthy food I gave him, then he would get nothing else.  The kid absolutely refused everything I made and I even broke out the good stuff like blueberry waffles and chocolate chip pancakes...nothing.  Fortunately, Jerry broke in just a few hours and he will thankfully eat anything I give him now, but Max landed himself in the hospital!  I officially felt like the worst mom in the whole entire world.  No matter how many times the doctor told me that it was not my fault and I was just doing what thousands of parents do, it still killed me!  The poor little guy had drank so much milk that it severely constipated him and he had to spend a whole day and night in the hospital.  Now anytime Max won't eat for a whole day, the next day I make the dreaded drive to McDonalds and embarrassingly order his "happy meal."


2.)  There are some days I let my boys watch 2-4 hours of tv a day!
      I try and never have the tv on for more than one episode at  time 3 times a day (morning cartoon-Mickey Mouse, after nap cartoon-Dora and our wind down family cartoon in our bed that is different everytime = usually about and hour to 1.5 hours a day. )  There are some days that I am just tired or need to get some laundry done, so I turn on the tv and just let zone out to the tv until I am done.  I really hate that my children love tv so much because I love to play with them and see their imaginations at work, but sometimes it is necessary.

3.)  Sometimes I just let my toddlers cry it out.
     I haven't ever really been a fan of the "cry it out" theory, but here lately it has been necessary.  I only do this when it is time for a nap or bedtime and they are refusing.  I used to spend hours reading books, singing lullabies, and cuddling and they still would be awake.  It was incredibly frustrating.  Now, after we go through our bedtime routine I very gently tell them good night and tuck them into bed and walk away and shut the baby gate as they are screaming with their arms out stretched.  It makes me cry a little everytime.  I don't think I am traumatizing them in any way, but it still hurts my feelings, as I am sure it hurts their feeling too.  Realistically they are 3 and almost 2, so they should be sleeping in their own bed, but they have been in mine since they were born.  I didn't just rip them out of my bed into their own, it was a process, more hard on Max than Jerry (Jerry liked to sleep in his crib sometimes). I hoping they will eventually quit crying and just enjoy their space.  The crying has been less and less every night, so hopefully it will be over soon.



4.) My children throw super market/walmart type of fits in public and home and I just ignore the action completely!

       Toddlers are notorious for fit throwing and my children are famous for it!  Its embarrassing and they will inevitably throw a fit or act up when there are a ton of people around.  I promise I have great and well mannered children...except sometimes they turn into gargoyles and act completely nuts!  I don't think I am doing a bad job parenting them, but I always get the bad parent look when I don't grab my kids up and spank them the minute they start a fit.  I have found it is best to completely ignore the fit throwing all together.  If their fit doesn't get any attention whatsoever, I think they will eventually stop because it doesn't even get them a look.  I go so far as to pretend I don't even see or hear them when they are throwing a fit.  This is hard to do in public because people always stare.  Don't get me wrong, I do spank my kids sometimes, but I don't think it is effective just because of a fit.  At home its easy to just carry them to a time out chair and they know they can't get up until they are done, but in public it can get difficult.

5.) Sometimes I just say "yes" because its easiest!
    Have you ever tried to tell a toddler no about anything?  If you haven't, you should try it sometime and see how fast their mood changes.  When Max asks for chocolate at the checkout line, most times I just say yes because that is the easiest and how bad could a little chocolate be...maybe I can even steal a bite.  Contrary to what people think, my children are not spoiled anymore than any other children who have parents who just think their kids are the best kids on the planet.  Its not like they ask for outrageous things, and if I can't answer my ultimate question "why would I not say yes?" then I just say yes.