STRESS

I have 3 children, one girl who is 12, and 11 year old boy, and a 4 year old boy. I am a work at home mom. My two older kids are in school till 2:30 PM everyday, my 4 year old goes to school twice a week, for a couple of hours. When my 2 older children were younger it was wonderful, they always had each other as companions, and I even ran a home day care, back then and had 2 other kids most days, and 4 extras a couple of days a week. The only time it really got stressful was at lunch time, because the kids brought their own lunche, and then I would have to fix my kids lunches, and there were times when I was making or preparing 3 or 4 different lunches for everyone. That kind of hectic, but otherwise I was pretty lucky the kids were all pretty good, and they would take a relaxation break around 2:00 every day and that was when I would start to clean up. Then they would do something like coloring or something like that.

Have you sat down and had the heart to heart with the 7 year old. Maybe the two of you need to go out and do something fun just the two of you. Give him a chance to get to know you without anyone else around. Hopefully the two of you can find a way to get along with each other.

I have 3 step children and they felt the same way aboutme. I tried talking to them. I tried to be undetanding. Their Mom so turned them against me. They didnt want to listen to me at all and still are not very fond of me.

Good luck to you.

I think I would have him sit down with you and his dad and have a talk about his behavior. I know that kids can be stressful mine are...20..17..16..15..4! All the same dad and it can get kind of crazy around here at times.

I do not have step children so I am no help there. But I would think that the father would need to have a conservation on what is expected from the step child in his home. I would be really upset if the child would not treat me with respect either.

I have two small kids of my own. The key for me is keeping them busy ~ the day goes faster and when they are busy they have less time to cause trouble. Good Luck!

Just hang in there. It gets easier! Your 5 month old will soon be crawling and then walking and will then be happier to self-entertain! When my kids were close to those ages, I found a local moms group to join (yahoo group) and did activities with them. Have a mom's night out. Go to a library for story time, or find other activities your oldest will love and it will give you a breather!

Thanks for the much needed hugs Selene.

Sounds stressful. :(
Sorry you have to deal with that. :/

Hugs!

Thanks Rae, I have tried to talk to him but all he cares about is his mom. He thinks he's only at our house because a judge says he has to and not because we want him here. She brain washes him and spoils him in ways that we can't. If he had it his way he'd decide when he was here and when he was there, we'd probably only see him once a week if it was that way. I've kind of just dealt with the fact that he doesn't like me. I can't deal with the disrespect from him though.

I'm sorry to hear that Candy. I'm glad I only have the one to deal with. He doesn't have to like me but he does have to listen and respect me though. Do you atleast get that from them?

Thanks Sandy C. we have tried this and it lasts maybe a day or until he goes back to his mom's, then it goes right back to the old ways of disrespect and not listening. She's right and his dad and I are wrong.

Thanks Cecilia, His dad tries to make him listen to me and respect me but it doesn't work. There's a fine line between making a child respect someone and fear them. I think he is good for his dad because he fears him. He has no real reason too except that when he yells his Marine voice comes out. He doesn't really get respect either. It's hard for his son to respect him or me when his mother shows us so much disrespect right infront of him. She once told me that I was not his mother and that I had no right to discipline him in my home. She said it in front of him. Now he thinks he can do whatever he wants.

Great ideas Renita. I'll have to look into something like that. I think I'd even be happy with a daily shower even without the mom's night out. My kids are always on different napping/sleeping schedules. I try so hard to keep them to the same routine but no luck.

Thanks for the hugs Jennifer. I needed them.

I am a mom of a grown daughter who is also very stressful. I love her to death but she drives me crazy.

I think all kids do that to their parents. I know I did it to my mom.

That sounds stressful, Rachel. What's your relationship dynamic like with your husband? I actually just posted a discussion about that, and I'd love your input! I'm sure it would add a lot. I would love to hear more about your experience, but please join the conversation (if you'd like to and you have time). Thanks so much!

My husband is my best friend and supports me in everything I do. I also support him in everything he does. If we don't agree we talk and work it out until we find an agreeable solution.