Selahsmom's blog

Anna Quindlen, Newsweek Columnist and Author

All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief. I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost-adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast. Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that
make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like. Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves. Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within each, barely discernib le except through the unreliable haze of the past.

We have this cat. He was my daughter's gift for her 3rd birthday. Really, he's quite laid-back and the perfect cat to have in the house with two preschoolers--loves the attention of the kids chasing him around and doesn't mind when my dd lugs him about like a sack of potatoes. But nighttime...this is becoming a real problem. He's only about 9 months old and still in kitten "play" mode. He's an indoor cat so I realize he has some energy to get out. Unfortunately his hunting instincts and desire to play generally come through at around 4 a.m., when he wakes my SO up by attacking his feet and legs and, when thrown off our bed, proceeds to go into my daughter's room and attack *her* legs, waking her up, crying, yelling for mama and begging me to get the kitty cat out of her room. ("Mom, close the door as FAR as you can!!!") So anyway, anyone have any suggestions? I am sleep deprived because of this damn cat. Love him to death but the middle-of-the-night attacks are pretty much ruining my whole week.

Groan. 3-year-olds and not listening. The past three mornings I have been in tears. The last two nights for dinner I have been in tears. Mornings consist of screaming fits about getting dressed, nearly every day. Doesn't matter what I pick for her to wear. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter what times she goes to bed at night. Screaming fits. Every fucking day. Dinnertime--working on getting her to sit in her chair and eat her food without throwing it on the floor or getting down to run circles around the table or pull the cat's tail or whathaveyou. I put her in time out if she doesn't sit at the table "like a big girl" but these days I'm having trouble even getting her to sit in time out. I can't get her to brush her teeth when I ask. i can't get her to get in the bath tub when I ask.