Whining

I can read the headlines now: "Mother of two becomes deaf from persistent whining".

Oh my goodness, this has been heck of a day! It started yesterday when my son had a big birthday party and received many attractive presents. My two year old, Ben, the one who doesn't like to share, seemed to think the gifts were all his and all last night he was continually whining over his "right" to have a turn. So we hurried the kids through their bath, shoved pajamas over their heads, and tossed them into bed head first... they were both out within five minutes.

But this morning Ben awoke with the terrible case of the "whines". Starting as early as seven o'clock he carried his voice in the most high pitched, fingernails on a chalkboard, tone of voice, arguing his "right" to have a turn with anything and everything my five year old picked up. Even when I put on a movie for Ben to watch he whined that "Daytub (Jacob) looking at movie". And when I explained that Jacob was allowed to watch the movie too, the octave level went even higher.

So I pushed the boys outside, encouraging them with new adventures in chalk drawing (as Jacob received some fun new chalk toys yesterday). One chalk set came with 3-D eye glasses to make the chalk drawings seem more "alive", but of course there was only one pair of glasses and... well you can imagine the drama that ensued. So back inside they went...

At about 10:45 I was developing a headache and had negotiated "Three more minutes and we need to pass it to brother" about seventy five times with about eighty different toys, when Ben whined for a snack. I suggested watermelon, grapes, string cheese and then applesauce and I heard "NO!" four times. So I opened the cupboard and suggested goldfish, which turned into a crying "NO!" Then I had the audacity to mention peanut butter crackers (how nice am I to offer so many things?!) and received a screaming fit over my dreadful suggestions. My head was beginning to throb so when he pointed to the tortilla chips and asked for cheese to dip I said yes. I told myself I would add some fruit to his plate and call it an early lunch.

A little bit later Jacob wanted a corn dog, and of course that lead to Ben throwing a full on temper tantrum that he was stuck with cheese and chips and wasn't offered a corn dog to begin with... So he went down for a nap an entire hour earlier than normal!

By late afternoon the whining had reached levels that even an opera singer would be impressed with. Ben didn't want to share his ball outside, nor did he want to share his boat in the bathtub. He didn't want to read the same book as Jacob at bedtime, and he wasn't happy that I sent him to bed with just water and not something sweeter to cleanse his palate. I skipped washing their hair in the tub or brushing their teeth before bed (I wasn't about to touch on those issues) focusing on getting them between the sheets so this dreadful day would be over!

I think I'll hide those darn "chalk glasses" so there isn't an issue tomorrow, and I'll shove the bathtime boat in the back of the cupboard. I've also decided to order some military issued earplugs online and have them shipped Overnight Express Mail to me so I can receive them first thing in the morning.