Tonight was one of the not-so-great parenting nights. There is a Noodles and Company by us opening in a few days and we were invited to enjoy a preview dinner. For FREE! Win! N&C is one of H's favorite restaurants so we were pretty psyched.
Cue a certain little girl who decided not to take a nap at daycare.
As we entered the restaurant someone gave Ruby a ginormous Rice Krispie bar. I took it away from her, stuck it in my bag and told her she could have some after dinner. Two seconds later, when I was distracted by ordering food, she snuck the bar out of the bag and started opening it. I took it away from her which caused her to throw herself to the floor and start screaming her head off. I picked her up, spanked her (as best you can when attempting to hold a screaming, wriggly toddler on your hips, exposing your stomach all the while. Thanks for that one, Rubes).
At the table she calmed down a bit but was no less intent on her goal of consuming the rice krispie bar. She was mildly distracted by the arrival of our pasta and ate a few bites after we again told her she could have the bar after she ate. Of course, to her eating two measly bites is eating a full meal, thus entitling her to eat the rice krispie bar. We pressed her to eat just a bit more and she completely melted down. We tried to talk to her and get her to calm down but that didn't worked so H carried her out of the (very, very crowded) restaurant kicking and screaming. I flagged down a server to get to-go containers.
Of course when your kid is screaming at the top of their lungs in a packed restaurant (I'm talking the line to order was out the door) it seemed like it took H like ten minutes to get her the hell out of there. I was totally mortified and practically in tears. On my way out of the restaurants a woman in line for drinks patted me on the shoulder and told me, "Don't worry, it'll be okay" and gave me a sympathetic smile. (I love people like this, btw) I thought I was doing a somewhat decent job at hiding the fact that I was upset but apparently not.
As soon as I got into the car I burst into tears. I was just SO frustrated with the situation. Frustrated that she behaved the way that she did, frustrated that we couldn't get the situation under control, and dangit, totally friggin' frustrated that I just couldn't enjoy a dang meal isthatsomuchtoask! I know I shouldn't be so hard on myself. Realistically I am sure that a good chunk of my fellow diners have or have had kids and have been in the same boat before and are at least somewhat sympathetic or ate least more tolerant of those kinds of things. I just don't want to be the parent of THAT child or be one of THOSE parents who let their kids scream and scream and scream in public.
So on the way home Ruby's in the back screaming (still) and I'm in the front sobbing. Poor Heath. He asked if there was anything that he could do but I just kind of shrugged. I hatehatehate doubting everything that we do with her when it comes to discipline. I just don't know if what we are doing is the right thing for the situation at hand or perhaps we are being too lenient but then I don't want to be too much of a hard ass either. Or I don't know if the punishment that we are doling out fits the crime or if it's totally pointless because she doesn't remember what she did/isn't developmentally able to understand what is going on. And I know you are supposed to be consistent but there are some days when I feel like I am sending her to her room every 5 minutes for one offense or the other, sometimes the exact same offense! ARGH!!!
In the end we got home and put her immediately to bed after we had a talk with her. I know it wasn't pointless to have the conversation with her, even though I am sure that she'll forget everything we said. It'll stick eventually, right?? Please, for the luvva God, tell me that it will stick.
You know what she won't forget about though? That gd rice krispie bar.
**the next morning I opened her door to find her naked and trying to get dressed. She looked at me and smiled and then asked, "Where's my treat??" Uh huh.**
Cue a certain little girl who decided not to take a nap at daycare.
As we entered the restaurant someone gave Ruby a ginormous Rice Krispie bar. I took it away from her, stuck it in my bag and told her she could have some after dinner. Two seconds later, when I was distracted by ordering food, she snuck the bar out of the bag and started opening it. I took it away from her which caused her to throw herself to the floor and start screaming her head off. I picked her up, spanked her (as best you can when attempting to hold a screaming, wriggly toddler on your hips, exposing your stomach all the while. Thanks for that one, Rubes).
At the table she calmed down a bit but was no less intent on her goal of consuming the rice krispie bar. She was mildly distracted by the arrival of our pasta and ate a few bites after we again told her she could have the bar after she ate. Of course, to her eating two measly bites is eating a full meal, thus entitling her to eat the rice krispie bar. We pressed her to eat just a bit more and she completely melted down. We tried to talk to her and get her to calm down but that didn't worked so H carried her out of the (very, very crowded) restaurant kicking and screaming. I flagged down a server to get to-go containers.
Of course when your kid is screaming at the top of their lungs in a packed restaurant (I'm talking the line to order was out the door) it seemed like it took H like ten minutes to get her the hell out of there. I was totally mortified and practically in tears. On my way out of the restaurants a woman in line for drinks patted me on the shoulder and told me, "Don't worry, it'll be okay" and gave me a sympathetic smile. (I love people like this, btw) I thought I was doing a somewhat decent job at hiding the fact that I was upset but apparently not.
As soon as I got into the car I burst into tears. I was just SO frustrated with the situation. Frustrated that she behaved the way that she did, frustrated that we couldn't get the situation under control, and dangit, totally friggin' frustrated that I just couldn't enjoy a dang meal isthatsomuchtoask! I know I shouldn't be so hard on myself. Realistically I am sure that a good chunk of my fellow diners have or have had kids and have been in the same boat before and are at least somewhat sympathetic or ate least more tolerant of those kinds of things. I just don't want to be the parent of THAT child or be one of THOSE parents who let their kids scream and scream and scream in public.
So on the way home Ruby's in the back screaming (still) and I'm in the front sobbing. Poor Heath. He asked if there was anything that he could do but I just kind of shrugged. I hatehatehate doubting everything that we do with her when it comes to discipline. I just don't know if what we are doing is the right thing for the situation at hand or perhaps we are being too lenient but then I don't want to be too much of a hard ass either. Or I don't know if the punishment that we are doling out fits the crime or if it's totally pointless because she doesn't remember what she did/isn't developmentally able to understand what is going on. And I know you are supposed to be consistent but there are some days when I feel like I am sending her to her room every 5 minutes for one offense or the other, sometimes the exact same offense! ARGH!!!
In the end we got home and put her immediately to bed after we had a talk with her. I know it wasn't pointless to have the conversation with her, even though I am sure that she'll forget everything we said. It'll stick eventually, right?? Please, for the luvva God, tell me that it will stick.
You know what she won't forget about though? That gd rice krispie bar.
**the next morning I opened her door to find her naked and trying to get dressed. She looked at me and smiled and then asked, "Where's my treat??" Uh huh.**
