Tuesday

Don't Shoot! And Hypocrisy Much?

This is a rant but also I would like to know if anyone  has something like this happen, parents who act like this. My NG is almost 5 years, she is a tomboy and her dad treats her like a son, which is no prob. The family is big on gun owning and my charge is crazy obsessed with guns. Her parents have bought her many kinds of toy guns that have various projectiles. She shoots every one and everything, terrorizes the dog and cat, and some of the hard sponge balls actually hurt. I put all the weapons away and work hard to distract her but she winds up throwing a tantrum and going to work at home dad to get the weapons back. They say, oh it's ok, they are just toys. She starts to make everything in to a gun- cheese and cookies, she "shoots" people at the store. I have at numerous times tried to talk to the parents and they pooh-pooh me. So - here is how the problem started to be solved - NG started doing this in kindergarten . The teachers and principal and other parents called a meeting laying down the law and - BOOM! All gun toys put away and the start of making her stop the behavior. I just feel disrepected that my professional opinion was not enough to be listened to!

Sunday

Infantophobia - Ever Heard Of This Before?

Feb 6th 2019

Dear Abby:

I have a really bad fear of babies and toddlers. My brother's wife just had a second child, and I can't stand being around them. I get really bad anxiety so I avoid them. His first child is 8 but she is like a toddler being disabled. I get freaked out around her too. When they come over, I go outside or into my room and hide. On top of that, my sister is pregnant and living here with me and my parents. I'm only 17, so I can't move out. It's hard enough when my brother visits with his kids, but if one lives with me, I know I'm going to lose it. I'm too afraid to talk about my parents about this. --(Losing It In The West)

Dear Losing It:

You are NOT going to lose it. You ARE going to talk with your parents about this because you cannot keep hiding inyour room forever. The longer you do,the higher your level of anxiety will become. Have you any idea why you feel the way you do? Is it their size,their fragility,the sound of their voices? You may need help from a licensed therapist to get past this. It is important for you to find out what is driving this panic because, if you don't, you will find yourself increasingly isolated as your friends and families start families.

Thursday

From - MB Says Nanny Must Do What She Wants

I am firm on this - we love our nanny, she is wonderful with my son, but of course we worry all day where he is and if he is alright. We give our nanny much leeway in taking him places, we trust her, but we want to be able to know as much as possible about where they are - we both must work but he is our life. We asked her to let us upload a tracking device on her phone so we can just know where he is. This does not mean we do not trust her we just want to see where he is, you never know what could happen, not the nanny's fault. We really want this and she says no, she will not leave the house with him because she will not link to the app. Are we being unreasonable?

Rant: Bribery - I Don't Like It !

Rant: The MB undoes all my work trying to teach NB 7 to do for himself and be independent. She texted me yesterday to bake and decorate cookies for his birthday party. And she tells me she did not finish the laundry or get the meal prep done. He is old enough to be a helper with these extra family tasks but they never ever require him to do anything. He will ask me to get him juice, I will encourage him to get it for himself and graciously bring me some too but he does not, he just does not want to do for himself.

He manipulated MB and DB into buying him a $400 gift for his birthday along with a big party - they wanted him to pick one ofr the other but he got his way as always. For the holidays the parents tried to keep the spending equal between him and his sister, 6 years, but he of course got more out of them.

NB and NG won't sleep in their beds - they were bribed to stay in their beds for a month for an expensive game each. They did it for one month on the nose, got the game and now go back to sleeping on their parents floor. This is only a small bit!