"My Kid Is Driving Me Crazy!"
14 Realistic Expectations That Make Parenting Easier
by
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Unrealistic expectations are a sure-fire way to stir up stress, frustration, and anger and dump it smack-dab into our everyday lives, creating difficulty and unhappiness all around. In fact, unrealistic expectations will just drive you crazy. The good news is that our kid isn’t really driving us crazy. Most of the time, our kid’s behavior is “normal”—for a kid, that is. It’s our thoughts and expectations that are driving us crazy. Really. Read this chapter....
Realistic Expectation to Remember: Giggles, hollers, squeals and screaming; A h, the sounds of children…They’re everywhere, they’re everywhere! As I write these words, my 4-year-old squeals in delight as his 10-year-old sister tickles him unmercifully. It’s a beautiful sound—unless you’re on the phone with your boss, doing your taxes, or trying to concentrate enough to write this chapter about noisy kids.
Children have the uncanny ability to make sounds at any time and place, at all hours of the day and night. Continually. I mean, you know…without pause. Ceaselessly. Persistently. Eternally. Incessantly. Ad infinitum. You get the point. When children are near, noises relentlessly cascade throughout a home.
“Children will be noisy”
Babbles, chatters, blubbers, and pleading.
Yells and whispers, shouts of joy;
Noises spring forth from each girl and boy. . .
Always and Forever. Amen.
I’m talking more than just “boy noises” here and there. I’m talking constant, ruthless, non-stop noise. It’s noise that respects neither person nor place. Just ask any parent who’s tried to keep a 2-year-old quiet in a church service.
If you’re sensitive to noise (you’re more of an “auditory based” person), then you especially know what I’m talking about. You’re the kind of person that, if in a restaurant with a television hanging above the bar 20 feet away, hears the TV above all else. If someone drops a dish in the restaurant’s kitchen, you hear it. You hear the conversation in the booth behind you. Noise seems to run through an amplifier before it gets to your ears. So when your kids make noise—repeatedly and frequently—it’s extra nerve-wracking.
Then there are those of us who are in
Depending on what kind of noise-oriented person you are, you probably respond differently to your kids’ noise. If both husband and wife are noise-sensitive people, you can bet their children “have been driving them crazy” from the day they were born. Noise-sensitive parents constantly try to manipulate the environment to lesson the “noisy stress” that comes with kids. As the toddler bangs the pots and pans on the kitchen floor, the parent rushes to scoop up the budding Ringo Starr and whisk him off to read a book—a more “appropriate” activity. Nine-year-old Nathan’s NintendoTM is shushed for the thousandth time, and dad makes a vow to buy the boy a headset (and himself earplugs). And at pre-teen Ashlyn’s birthday sleepover, mom suggests taking the crew of girls at the ice rink, so they can “get their noise out somewhere else,” and dad insists that the remote corner room in the basement is the best place for the celebrators to giggle their way through the night. To avoid misery, two noise-sensitive parents become master manipulators at quieting the environment.
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About the Book
Is your kid driving you crazy?
Do you ever find yourself getting frustrated? Does it seem like your child always makes noise when you’re on the phone? Does he leave toys out all over the floor? Does it seem like she’s not listening? Is there always laundry to do, a messy room to clean, and a child on your heels, asking questions? And do you then sometimes find yourself getting frustrated? Bent out of shape? Maybe even exasperated and the edge of “losing it”?
As parents, we’ve all been there! But you don’t have to feel frustrated. You can feel good no matter what the circumstances – and be calm, in control – even in the middle of those crazy days – with a smile on your face. Yes, with the truths in this book tucked into your heart, parenting can be much easier and more enjoyable.
When you take this book home, you’ll find smiles, laughter, and true hope that’s both inspiring and encouraging. As you enjoy reading these pages, a warm smile will spread across your face while affirming new thoughts, new perspectives, and new attitudes – and you’ll enjoy your children in a way that you’ve always wanted. It’s time to make a positive change on the inside – and to feel better today. Get this book and feel a calm and collected heart and mind – and be the peaceful, smiling, “in control” parent you’ve always wanted to be.
“Refreshing…practical…I highly recommend this book to any parent who wants to raise great kids and maintain their sanity in the process.” – Anne Leedom, Editor-in-Chief, ParentingBookmark.com
“Practical, humorous…Erin Brown Conroy knows what works!” – Fran Hewitt, Co-author, The Power of Focus for Women
About the Author
Erin Brown Conroy, a mom of 13 children ranging in age from six to twenty-six, has been an instructor to children and a counselor to families for over 30 years. As the author of four books including 20 Secrets to Success with Your Child and creator of the TotallyFitMom.com program, Erin slips away on evenings and weekends for educational and motivational speaking at conferences and workshops, along with teaching as a part-time university professor in leadership, writing and research, and health and wellness. Erin and her husband, Shawn, together enjoy homeschooling and raising their children in
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