Anal Phase

My kids have this obsession with poop right now. So much so, that it is said at least a hundred times a day followed by unstoppable giggles.
Imagine this...A nice quiet drive back home, adult conversation, while the kids have their headsets on watching "Bee Movie" and Grant half sleeps watching in silence. This goes on for a wonderful 45 minutes. So peaceful to have them awake, but totally silent.
All of a sudden, they both burst out in giggles yelling "Poo Water! Poo Water! Ha! Ha! Ha!..." It was quite funny, especially since they didn't realize how loud they were with headsets on. Then, when the laughter subsided, complete silence for the rest of the drive home.
Does anything else make my children laugh besides poop and pee? I am still trying to find it.

Afternoon Frustration

Since I have been doing the shiatsu on the little ones at night to get them to sleep, it has pretty much been working. Last night Grant really fought it though, and it was almost 10 before he was asleep on his own. However, I think it is causing a new problem, nap time. I don't really want to do the shiatsu on them twice a day, but now it is 3 and they all are still awake, when their usual nap time is 1:30. Grant is awake because he zonked out on the couch before lunch, and the other two are awake because I am quietly playing movies for him to keep him quiet. So, here I am frustrated that my cleaning/ "Mommy time" is interrupted, and that if they all go to sleep now, it will be another late night for us. I wish I had a miracle plan this time, for now I am just frustrated.

Bedtime Battles

Lately I have been battling with Grant to get him to sleep. He comes to me when he is sleepy, rubbing his eyes and asking form "Mama Milk." So, like I have been doing since he was born, I take him to bed, feed him, and he used to fall right to sleep; not so lately. He acts like he is going to fall asleep, then pops his head up, sits up and trys to crawl off the bed, screaming at me when I won't let him down. Then he proceeds to thrash around, screaming, calling Daddy, yelling my name, and still trying to sneakily get off the bed anyway he can. My favorite "sneaky" way is the whole, roll over to my other side, pretend like he wants to eat more, as he sneaks his feet off the side of the bed to climb down. It is quite comical, UNLESS it happens to be like 10 or 11 and I have been trying to put him to sleep since about 8!
I try to think of ways to conquer the battle as I am laying their holding down my child in the nicest possible way. I have thought about sticking him back in his crib (not that he has ever slept in it) then I think, "Isn't that like baby jail? Nah, I don't have the heart. He would be sooo upset. " Then there is the fact that his crib is his dresser and Rogan's winter clothes storage unit, and I would have to move all those clothes.
I have considered Valerian root extract, but then thought back to when I tried to give it to Laila, but it did no good, it didn't effect her sleeping stubborness at all, just made her more cranky trying to fight the sleep. Forget that.
I have even pondered the "Adrenal Overload" move my friend taught me, well, did on me.
**Flash back- 6 years ago***
We have this good friend, Evan, who became a Chinese Medicine Doctor before he went to Chiropractic school. One night while Evan and Doug were studying, and I was still working, we were up late. I was really tired, and had to work early the next day, and went to bed. After about an hour of tossing and turning, I went out to the living room and said, "Evan, can you do anything for me, I am so tired, but I can't sleep. Got any tricks up your sleeve?" He said, "Sit down." Then he measures with his hand halfway between my ankle and knee. Here I am thinking he is going to break out his cool little wand thingy that holds burning incense that you can use in place of acupuncture needles. Nope. He grabs my leg, and with his thumb, presses as hard as he can in the spot, while I am screaming in pain and calling him every dirty name I can think of, while he laughs (Evan loves to inflict pain on others in the name of healing I think). He finally releases after about a minute, bows to me, and says, "Pleasant dreams." I was like, "What the hell did you just do to me. *yawn*?" "Adrenal overload, and you might want to start walking to bed now, Good night." I got up, started walking, and fell down in the hallway from sheer exhaustion, crawled the rest of the way to the bedroom, almost didn't make it into the bed, and slept like I have never slept until the alarm went off. Later he explained to me that some army general used to do this to his troops during battles so they could sleep through the battle raging around them. I totally believe they could sleep through a battle with that done to them!
**Flash forward to now**
So, here I am laying in bed grabbing Grant's leg, trying to press on it, but then being afraid that I am going to hurt him or bruise him and look like an abusive parent. Needless to say, it is not working. I am sure I have to do it sooo much harder than that. I just can't bring myself to hurt him. So, I try the Jin Shin Jyutsu (another Japanese energy healing technique) that I was taught, Hold the little finger and big toe for sleep. But then he kicks and trys to bite me. I think he knows it is working, and is really fighting it.
Here I am, while the whole family is in our bedroom passed out, with "eternal om" playing on the alarm clock radio, wondering what to do next, and how long this bedtime battle is going to last.

Makin' Me Crazy!

I know that all parents have their "breaking point," with their kids. For some reason, mine comes when my kids get whiny and clingy about seemingly insignificant things. For example, we were all sitting at lunch (minus Doug) eating, and Rogan says, "I gotta go potty! Help me!" For one thing, he already knows how to go by himself, and has for a long while, and for another, I was in the middle of my food, and helping Grant with his. I ask, 'Why do you need help? You know how to go by yourself, just go." He says, "I'm scared!" "Scared of what? There is nothing to be scared of." "The flying dinosaurs!" "Rogan, there is no flying dinosaurs!" "The monsters!" "Rogan, there is no such things as monsters! Didn't you go all by yourself at Grandma's house? She has a much bigger house than ours." "Yeah, but I am scared." So, I have to get up from the middle of my lunch for no apparent reason, to escort him to the bathroom.
Then there is Laila. She is independant at home. Always wants to go outside by herself. However, she does the whole "I'm scared" thing too. She won't even sleep in her own beautiful bedroom. The only bedroom with its own bathroom, that by the way, she won't step foot in either, not even when she is about to wet herself because someone else is using the other toilet. This makes me crazy. Then when we are out with friends or at church, if there is more than one of her friends, she grabs ahold of me and won't let go. She clams up, and holds onto my clothes, which drives me nuts.
Why do they do this? The only thing I can think of is one-on-one attention, and Laila's incurable shyness. It is like their energy can't handle too much, or they go on overload and want to be babied.
I hope they grow out of it soon, because it is makin' me crazy!