A Mean Mommy Meltdown

Last week, I lost it. Endless nagging for leftover Halloween candy plus unending requests to watch TV got to me. I had given in once, and set a standard. After that, when I went back to asserting myself, the kiddo remembered that I caved once, and proceeded to plead for more, more, more. I was doing OK resisting her efforts...until Monday. Then it was one request too many. I told the kiddo to go ahead and eat candy. She could eat as much as she wanted. I thought she would (eventually) have enough and be done (or make herself sick). It didn't happen that way. I offered her more, and she took it. And still more. I gave her more and told her that she had to eat it. She did. It was only when I told her that she could have candy for breakfast that her self-regulating mechanism kicked in. At that point, we were both upset. Then, she asked to watch TV. I lost it. She was acting like a little addict. I was disgusted with myself, but I had to test her. I told her to go ahead, to just watch TV since it was so important to her. That was like a slap in the face to her, and it upset her even more. We made up--without any more candy or TV--but I felt horrible about the whole thing all night.

That is what happened. You may have similar stories, or ones that are worse (or ones that you consider worse). That was probably my worst mommy moment up to now. I'm sure there will be more, but hopefully none worse than that.

I made a big mistake, but I learned from it: dump the candy. If it's not there, she can't ask for it. That, however, goes against my nature. The kiddo got that candy the good old-fashioned way, and it seemed like a shame to throw it in the trash. I need to get over that. It isn't nutritious food. It's garbage. It will be treated as such. Heck, next year, maybe we will only go to a few houses on Halloween. How much candy does one child need? My kiddo can't resist, so she certainly doesn't need a ton of it.

As for the TV, it seems to have the same addictive quality as candy. The kiddo can't resist it, and once she gets any, she craves more. Hubby and I decided to cut TV time out almost entirely, since she acts so ugly when we try to limit it. The kiddo wants a 3DS for Christmas, and I have decided that she just isn't going to get one. It would be easy to regulate, but we can't handle any more meltdowns. From her or from me.