Attachment Parenting

If my toddler doesn’t uncling herself from my left hip soon I might lose my mind!! From the first thing in the morning til the last thing at night all she wants is for me to hold her. When I try to put her down, she lifts up her legs and grabs onto my shirt for dear life. If I pry her little chimp hands off me she wails and screams as if I’ve literally ripped each finger off her tiny hand.

Sure it’s nice she loves me so and wants to snuggle up, but it’s freaking ridiculous that I can do nothing else! If I want to put her down I have to do this whole song and dance. Seriously. I have to hold her on my hip and sing and dance. Preferably some crazy Wiggles song or something and then put her on the couch with her blanket and turn on Sesame Street and slowly back away while she is distracted by Grover.

But of course 5 minutes later she is wailing for me again with her arms stretched out and running towards me. Why? I can never figure it out. Sometimes she’s happy if I scoop her up and put her on my lap for awhile. Other times she still whines and jumps up and down on my. Most of the time she just wants me to walk with her, but sometimes she’ll point to the kitchen and the refrigerator.  I will try to put her down while I dig out a snack and drink, but she will lose her shit if I do. So I’ve got to do all this with her clinging to my hip like a clip on monkey.

The morning is the worst for this because I am trying to get things done. Make sure Zeta is dressed and ready for the bus, Nita has her breakfast and I have a cup of coffee. Plus, I am not a morning person so I am rather grumpy anyway and her baby monkey routine does nothing to lift my mood.  She will let up a bit during the day but then she starts up again in the late afternoon. Right around the time I am trying to make dinner and break up 32 fights between the other two darlings. So my nerves are shots and this is when I start pouring the wine. It’s also when I plead with the big girls to please play with their baby and make her happy so mommy can cook dinner without risking burning a toddler toe or chopping off a little finger.

And the big girls? This is when they really shine. These girls can drive me nuts, but they really come through for me when it comes to keeping their baby sister happy. They coo and cajole and get her laughing and forgetting about me in about 10 seconds.  They take her upstairs and dress her in all manner of princess attire. Jemima really loves this. It is so cute to see them all in their finery, twirling and giggling.

So yeah, the clinging monkey thing isn’t that bad and the big sisters doting on the baby sister is absolutely priceless.  I guess I can handle this for a bit longer. I’m sure it’s just a phase.