Are Mama's allowed to Whine?

...or just the 3 year old & the dog?

I need to vent...so if you don't wanna hear me be grumpy then quit reading now. We are currently in the process of trying to get Ivy to stop sucking her finger...not a fun task. We have been trying to break this habit by just asking her to take it out of her mouth and for the most part this has worked until a couple of days ago. I had bought some Mavala from Amazon because I had heard a long time ago that it worked to break thumb sucking. When I got it the instructions said not for use in children under 3...so it's been sitting in my cabinet for 5 months. We used it for the first time on Sunday and Ivy DID NOT appreciate it one little bit. She gagged and coughed and actually almost puked a couple of times. She finally figured out that she shouldn't put her finger in her mouth. All I had to do was ask her yesterday if she wanted any finger medicine or if she could keep her finger out of her mouth. She instantly started crying and said no finger medicine. I felt bad then like maybe I had traumatized her with it. I got to my Mom's today at 5:40 to pick up Ivy. She was excited to see me as she always is and instantly asked me for a snack. When I told her no because we were going home to eat dinner she just walked away and I thought well that was easy today. The she stuck her finger in her mouth and made a grunting noise at me. I asked her nicely to please take her finger out of her mouth like a big girl because she can only suck her finger at night. She made the grunt noise again. Then I told her in a firm voice to take the finger our of her mouth or I would get the finger medicine. Again...the grunt noise. I WILL NOT allow her to get away with stuff (even if she tells me that she isn't happy anymore - yes she really says that to me). I sat her on Mom's kitchen counter and held her down and put the Mavala on her finger. Her whole world  was crushed. Her are some statistics from the rest of the night....

• 32 - Number of minutes Ivy spent screaming at a very high pitch at the top of her lungs
• 40 - Number of times I patiently and calmly asked her to tell me why she was so upset
• 8 - Number of times Ivy told me that she didn't want to come home because she wanted to stay at Grammie's before we got out of the driveway
• 800 - Number of times Ivy told me that she didn't want to come home  and she wasn't happy any more because she wanted to stay at Grammie's between Grammie's driveway and our driveway
• 12 - Number of times I considered jumping out of my car and screaming at the top of my lungs for someone to save me from the 3 year old
• 2 - Number of times I wanted to slam my head in the wall when we got home
• 4 - Number of times I threatened to kill the dog if he didn't hurry up and pee and get back in the house
• 14 - Number of times I wondered if any of the neighbors could hear Ivy screaming and if they were going to call DFACS
• 3 - Number of times Ivy opened the door to the garage and ran before I let the door down and locked the deadbolt
• 5 - Number of times Ivy told me she was hungry
• 5 - Number of times I told her I was cooking her dinner
• 5 - Number of times Ivy told me she didn't like it when I cooked dinner
• 5 - Number of times I told her she could go get in her bed and go nite nite
• 20 - Number of times I almost started crying

Seriously, I may be exaggerating a little bit when I said 800 but it was at least 799 - Seriously!

Then when I pulled her chicken fingers out of the oven and she saw me put ketchup on her plate she turned it off just like I flipped a switch.  Really?  If I had know that would have made the screaming stop I would have squirted some ketchup in her mouth as soon as we walked in the door.

Other things that make me want to whine....

• Why is it that when Ivy says "Mommy" and I instantly acknowledge her she has to say "Mommy" 14 more times before she says what she wants to say?
• Why is it that when you buy toddler pajamas in the their size the pants always fit perfect and the top goes on their little arms like a Chinese finger trap?
• Why is it that when you buy toddler pajamas in a size to big the pants fit perfect except they are way too long and the top still goes on their little arms like a Chinese finger trap?
• Why is it that my dog stands under my feet whining with his high pitch squeaker and when I sit down to pay him some attention he only sits with me 5 minutes before he gets up and goes to lay in the chair across the room?
• Why is it that when I wash Ivy's hair she screams like I am drowning her but when Chris washes it she laughs and giggles the whole time?
• Why is it that Ivy wants to eat cereal for every meal of the day?
• Why is it that whenever I say no to cereal Ivy wants to eat PB&J every meal of the day?

My list could go on and on and on, but I'm tired and going to bed. Thanks for listening.  On a happier note this might be the funniest thing I have ever read.  Seriously!  So go read it.