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November 01, 2008

Denouncing whining... by whining.

I can't think of anything that drives me around the bend more than whining.

Jade used to be a low-maintenance child - an LMC as I like to call it. She was easy. Now, she's the polar opposite. She's an HMC - a high-maintenance child. In fact, I might even go so far as to classify her as a VMHC - VERY high-maintenance child.

I don't know if it's the diet (and related constipation or metabolic changes) or the seizures or the medications, but Jade's nearly-incessant whining is really starting to get to me. Before the seizures and the medications, she wasn't whiny. I don't blame her for the whining, I just wish it would stop! It would make all of the other crap so much easier to bear! It's tiring! It's frustrating! It's maddening!

I love my child. I really, really do. If I didn't, I wouldn't be crazy enough to endure the whining. Lately, though, I've been wishing that someone would produce a television show called "Child Swap". The whole idea behind the program would be to switch parents who have LMCs and who take their family lives for granted (especially the ones with nannies and maids who have things easy but don't realise it and then whine about how hard things are for them when Johnny's Christmas play conflicts with their spa appointment) with parents who have VHMCs (and who really deserve a "vacation"). If "Child Swap" existed, I would leap at the opportunity to be on that show.

I know that there are parents who have things a lot harder than we do. I'm not looking for sympathy or words of encouragement. I just want a break from the whining!

12 comments:

Mongoose said...

You could try Crash Test Mommy. You find someone who thinks they can do a better job than you, and they get to take your place for a day or two while you go to a spa and watch their suffering on TV.

Meandering Michael said...

"Crash Test Mommy is a Canadian reality series on the Life Network, which takes an under-appreciated mom away for a weekend, and brings in a "substitute mom" who is usually a know-it-all family member or friend, who thinks they can do a better job with the children and the household."

Thanks for the suggestion. Alas, I'm not so sure that Jade's mother is an under-appreciated mom and I can't think of any substitutes who think they can do the job better!

Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan said...

I am with you on that one. Hunter is being such a pain in the butt lately. Perhaps it is because he misses his Dad, I don't know. But he just follows me around hanging off of my legs. Wants up. Wants down. Wants up. Wants down. Screaming. Yelling. It seems like it won't end! And these early mornings are going to kill me. And he gets frustrated so quickly. I guess this is the age for that though.

Anonymous said...

Pheeewww. Don't blame it on genes, at least not from the maternal side. Fawn was an ELMC (extreme low maintenance child). But maybe these things skip a generation, and it's the generation once removed that's to blame. Or maybe Fawn's father, with infinitely less patience than her husband, was just too indimidating for her to even consider whining in her dreams. Or, in those dark and unenlightened days of parenting, Fawn's father might just have closed several sets of doors between a whining kid and himself on the vague theory that whining without an audience is only half the fun and will eventually stop. Of course, we did not have epilepsy to contend with.

In any event, developmental theory postulates that the "terrible twos", which Jade perhaps mostly missed due to her seizures, are followed by the whiny threes. So perhaps we should interpret this as the diet working and Jade behaving in a more typical fashion for her age. Fawn was the rather atypical one, virtually completely skipping all of these phases.

Hang-on in there.... when you are down in a valley every direction will take you up...

Cat said...

Hopefully things will improve (including Jade's whining) when the diet kicks in. HOPEFULLY!

Unknown said...

Hehehe... I think it means the diet is working. We were at dinner with Owen last night (our godson - who is one week older than Jade), and it was a whine-FEST. Caity was a whiner at that age too. I have not yet met a 3-year-old who isn't a chronic whiner.

Once Jade's vocab catches up on this diet, maybe the whining will peter out. I think a lot of it is frustration at knowing what you want to say, but not having the words.

Hang in there, bro!

Anonymous said...

I know you don't drink, but now you have a reason to start.

Meandering Michael said...

Thanks for smacking some sense into me, everyone.

Anonymous, if anything, I've got LESS of a reason to start.

Anonymous said...

Alex is ridiculous when it comes to whining. She whines over everything. It's crazy. And poor James really can't take it. I figure it's my punishment for being a whiner myself. It's is agonizing. Best to nip it in the bud as soon as it starts. Otherwise you'll be dealing with it for months. Like your headache ridden sister.

Marian said...

Aw, Michael.....now you have your own "house whine", just like we had (sorry Lindsay).
It's definitely a stage and will be over before you know it. Just look how well Lindsay turned out!

Meandering Michael said...

Mom, was your comment supposed to be some sort of encouragement? :P

Malva said...

I'm sorry to say but my 9yo still hasn't stopped whining, so it's been going on for about 6 years...

I thought we were going to be spared with her 3yo brother but he also started to whine in the last few months.

So annoying!