Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Naughty Boys

Yesterday was one for the books in terms of naughty behavior from my angelic children. Most of my morning was occupied by simultaneously breaking up fights while dealing with the ball-droppers at Bank of America (we've been working on a re-fi of our mortgage for 3 months now). After getting off the phone at one point, I walked into the living room to see Jackson and Chase throwing 2 sweet potatoes around the room and tearing up bits of toilet paper and throwing those in the air like confetti. AHH!

Then last night... oh last night. Long story, semi-short - Jackson and Tyler thought it would be hilarious to climb out of their cribs and come running out to the living room, laughing their little heads off. Over. And over. And over. Nick and I tried a few different tactics when dealing with them. We tried not talking and just putting them back. We tried putting them back and then shutting the door. We tried putting them in time out. We tried holding the door shut, thinking if they realized they couldn't get out of their room they wouldn't be so anxious to get out of bed. Nick and I swapped posts several times in the doorway and finally we found something that worked. We took away their coveted blankets.

We told the boys we were going to set the timer and if they stayed in their crib the whole time then they'd get their blanket back. Nick took the first shift and they only lasted 4 minutes (we were shooting for 10 initially). Then I took a shift because the boys were seeing me as "the bad guy" last night, where as they'd just giggle like crazy when Nick was around. I stood in their doorway, not speaking but ready to put boys back in their beds, and decided to count how many times I put Ty back (Jackson was just standing in his crib flipping out about his blanket and telling me to go away). In 6 minutes I put Tyler back in his crib 22 times. Almost 4 times a minute! Jeez kid!

Finally we decided to lower our expectations a bit and make the boys only last 5 minutes before getting their blankets back. Tyler finally got his back around 9:40 (almost 2 hours into the ordeal) and then sat in his crib and watched Jackson act up. Jackson got his blanket back a couple of times but then climbed out immediately after in hopes that we'd let him sit on the couch. No way kid! So we'd take the blanket back and start the 5 minutes over again.

Finally, by 10pm (over 2 hours had passed) he was so flipped out and so tired he didn't know what to do anymore, so I grabbed him and his blanket and we sat on the edge of my bed for a few minutes to calm him down. A couple of minutes later I told him he was going to bed and he was to stay in bed. And he did. Whew!

So what was Chase doing this whole time? Just sitting in his crib, cracking up and egging the other two on. Towards the end, he started singing which annoyed Tyler and Jackson (they yelled at him to stop singing). Nick and I were shocked he never tried to climb out last night. Guess he's more chicken then I thought!

Now yesterday afternoon I also had to take Ty to the doctor's office. During lunch he suddenly freaked out and said his ear hurt, so I made an appointment for right after nap time. Poor kid has never been that obviously in pain. The doctor said his right ear was horribly red and bulging. Aww!

When we headed out for the doctor appointment, we saw this in our front yard.... Snowman carnage!

Less than 24 hours earlier it looked like this...

At least it's melting fast! Oh, and apparently the constant lifting last night was a bit of a workout, because I woke up this morning with a sore back and arms!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you have a childproof knob that you can put on the inside door handle of their room so that they can not get out. I did that for my son then when he fell asleep I would just open his door and put him back on his bed. He was out of the crib at 18 months because he did not like it and would cry all the time. I think toddler beds are definitely in your future now.

breckholladay said...

with three boys, who needs a gym membership ??

Unknown said...

Oh boy! What a night! I am deathly afraid of when my kids start to deliberately act out. I have no idea how I will handle it. What strength you have! I hope I have what it takes to be a great parent too.

Aimee said...

That is awful! I agree about the doorknob cover. We use that for Brayden now that he is in a big boy bed. At first he tried to get out but then accepted it and doesn't even try anymore. Of course we have nothing in the room he can play with and even had to put tape over the light switch because that was a toy. There is only so much you can do locked in a dark room with no toys. Good luck!

Christina said...

That's nuts. Please tell me that wont' happen here?

Unknown said...

I am sorry - I can't help myself - I know it was frustrating and tiring for you, but the way you describe it at the end - with Chase singing, and the other two yelling at him to stop, and Tyler climbing out as fast as you put him in - it sounds like a comedy routine. I hope it gets better soon (but I so wish you had a hidden camera in the room.)

How about a dutch door or child gates (though you might have to stack two on top of each other in order to keep them from scaling over.)

Helen said...

Oh, Nick and I were both totally cracking up whenever the boys couldn't see us! The looks on their faces were hilarious and we just kept shaking our heads in disbelief.

Brenda B. said...

Ugh - hopefully the "fun" part of this phase wears off sooner rather than later.

And man that snow really is melting fast!

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