Parenting don'ts

I guess I am doing everything that's listed as "don'ts" in parenting books.

I shout. I lose my patience. I threaten. I glare.

I have many internal sticky notes pasted on the inside of my brain reminding me not to shout or lose patience.

To no avail.

Some things that got to me yesterday:

• Nadya peeled off bits of tissue paper, rolled them into tiny balls and stuffed them into her ears. 
• Both girls took turns to snatch things from each other. Both irritated the other on many occasions. Alyssa slapped Nadya once (I have to give credit to Nadya for not crying). Nadya pinched Alyssa twice and nearly squashed Alyssa between the door and door-frame.   
• Nadya repeatedly tried to jump/climb on me when I was feeding Alyssa her medicine, despite being told not to. 
• Nadya refused to feed herself lunch or dinner. 
• Alyssa tore open a package of things despite being told not to. When I chided her, she announced "Don't like Mama!!"
• Nadya refusing to lower her volume at night even though Alyssa was already sleeping.

In the future, I might look back at these days and laugh at myself for being uptight or impatient. I might brush these things off with a wave of my hand or treat them as no biggies. 

But for now, for yesterday, the frustration was real.