I know it's wrong to feel this way but I feel like I'm overworked and that my three young children treat me like a slave and have no respect for me! I never get a break and all day constantly they are demanding this and that had yelling or whinging that they are hungry , thirsty , I want milk I want toast etc etc all day over and over most the time they just demand of me and don't ask or speak nicely to me or use manners they just expect me to do everything for them and it's exhausting and makes me feel depressed and stressed :(
8 Replies
Only suggestion I have is stop doing it. Explain that until they speak properly you wont be doing it.
I felt like this for so long.. and some days still do. However I have made a rule in my house that 15 minutes every day is time the kids (13, 12 & 9 ) will help me clean up and do stuff for me. Sometimes its simply take their 2yo sister outside to play while I have a coffee in peace. Othertimes I use that time to get their rooms clean or some wwashing on just whatever I want in that 15mins. Then I am not on their back all day to do stuff and they know how hard it is to get it all done. So I think they appreciate the studf I do for them more now. However some days they jusy turn feral and do my head in lol..
Chin up Im sure its just a stage.
Hmmm as you haven't specified whether your kids are of an age to be able to meet their own needs in terms of food and drink its a bit hard to answer.
Its never too late to teach your kids manners and common courtesy so start now. Also maybe you could set their expectations with a routine that is displayed showing what times brekky, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner are. And when they ask simply state that the next feeding time is not far away. Place a fruit bowl and cracker jar where they can get to them so if they are truly ravenous there is something they can get themselves.
I also believe that its important to teach kids that there are responsibilities in life and that they don't get a free ride so make up a chart that shows who does what how often. There was a great post about chores last week on here with some links to age appropriate jobs.
So in summary: teach your kids to fish and they'll have food for a lifetime; give them a fish and they'll have food for a day. Teach your kids to be self sufficient to help yourself :-)
I just dont do it. Our children must say 'Mum/ Dad Please may I have' or Please can i have a drink etc or I just don't respond to them until they ask properly of course when i first started doing this i reminded them how to ask but now they know if i'm not responding they may want to pop some manners in their sentence ;)
My kids are 3 and 4, if they don't ask politely they don't get it.
They eat outside at the table and outside toys stay outside.
They know if I'm doing house work they are both in 1 bedroom our outside playing.
I make them put their toys away, otherwise they go in the bin ( I have a box inside the bin that the toys go in)
It sounds harsh, but I was beginning to be a slave and really wasn't liking it. It's been about a year of this and they now and they do it all automatically.
Our children treat people the way we teach/show them too. You need to teach them they don't get anything unless they are polite. I always have water bottles at a level in the fridge so the kids can get them anytime. (My kids are a little older now) o most things they can get themselves like a yoghurt piece of fruit etc. we also taught the kids to pack away their own toys, all toys must be cleaned away before they get any tv/computer time and again before dessert. Not sure of their ages but also from about 3 years our kids had chores that thy get pocket money for like helping to put clothes away, making beds, setting the table jobs can get harder as they get older ow my 10 year old wipes up and helps with cleaning (if home when I'm doing it) and she asked to do jobs as she realises jobs = money = she can buy what she wants with that money..... Teach them young or they will be worse the time they are teenagers
Our children treat people the way we teach/show them too. You need to teach them they don't get anything unless they are polite. I always have water bottles at a level in the fridge so the kids can get them anytime. (My kids are a little older now) o most things they can get themselves like a yoghurt piece of fruit etc. we also taught the kids to pack away their own toys, all toys must be cleaned away before they get any tv/computer time and again before dessert. Not sure of their ages but also from about 3 years our kids had chores that thy get pocket money for like helping to put clothes away, making beds, setting the table jobs can get harder as they get older ow my 10 year old wipes up and helps with cleaning (if home when I'm doing it) and she asked to do jobs as she realises jobs = money = she can buy what she wants with that money..... Teach them young or they will be worse the time they are teenagers
Thanks for the replies
I have 2 little girls that can sometimes get sookie and demanding.... When they start demanding or whinging I simply say; " I'm sorry, I can't understand you when you speak to me like that" or " I might be able to help you, if you can use your manners" it works every time! If they really want it they will ask nicely, if that's the only way to get it.