The World Thru My Eyes - I speak my mind and man does it like to talk.

Well, as some of you may know I have been, for some years now, having issues with the mother of my children. Some issues, while already mentioned, I do not wish to repeat but to say the least it's enough for many to ask why I am still with her. Well recently we sat down, by her request, to talk about our current situation. It would seem my frustrations had finally got to me and I was acting very indifferent with her. Guess that is what took to get her attention.

Anywhoo, we spoke about what needs to be done about this degrading relationship. We both considered going our own ways as an option but in the end decided to try to make it work for the sake of the children. So far things have been a bit better though progress is moving a bit too slow on her part for my taste. I am not seeing results as fast as I'd hope considering the conversation. But I will give it more time.

But there are moments when I think we should just go ahead and move on with our lives. This weekend I was presented with amoment that i first chose to ignore but have, honestly, not been able to. See, my 5 year old has been giving me a lot of trouble lately at his daycare. For 4 days straight i was called to go because he was out of control. At home it's as if I fed him pure sugar for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am not a believer of harsh punishments such as beating him, but he has forced me to take much more drastic measures to control him. While I have not reached a point of physically harming him to the point of marks and scars, I have done things such as grab him by the ears, spank him a little and even hit him with the belt a bit, not like a monster though, just to scare him. Well, taking away his toys and games, giving him love and attention, punishing him or hitting him have made a dent in his attitud towards me and just about everyone else much. He is a bit more calmer now than a few weeks ago, but I discovered that another child in his clase was the real problem and my son was simply immitating him where as anytime the child was not in class my son would behave great.

Like any other time, my 5 year old was acting impossible on Saturday. He was told to get dressed cause we were going out. he said he could not find his socks and I told him they were on the bed, he couldn't miss them but in his defiant act he kept saying he couldn't find them so I got upset and grabbed him by the ear and showed him the socks. Maybe I went a bit too fr that time but I didn't really do much to him, he tends to make mountains out of molehills. Anyways, a few minutes later my wife tells me she needed to talk to me about what happened with my son. She called me into the room and told me that my son had told her that he did not want me in with them anymore. That he wanted it to be only him, his brother and his mommy. I ofcourse tried to play it off as he is just a 5 year old that doesn't know what he is saying, and perhaps I am right. He is, after all, in that "you don't love me" stage. I have seen that happen so many times before. I went and blamed my wife because she likes to let him get away with everything and always bends to his will even when I had said no for good reasons. She basically underminds my authority.

As I said, I tried to ignore my sons comments but the truth is it has been eating me up ever since and today I find myself almost wanting to cry of the thought my son does not want me around. Sometimes I think my older son feels the same way since I am sometimes rough with him, but I do it for his own good. In this day in age a simply correction with a hard tone of voice is seen as bad as beating them with a belt, an iron cord or a bat by kids. So here I am watching all my dreams slowly becoming consumed by the fires of my mistakes and feeling completely hopeless at stopping it. The mother of my children who has not done much to save this relationship in 10 year I honestly don't really expect her to do so now (but gave her the benfit of the doubt hoping to be surprised, after all I do believe in miracles) and my 2 kids who are losing their faith in their father.

It seems that my presence on this site shows nothing but a man who can't do anything right be it with people on this site or my family at home. I don't even know what else to think or say.


Comments
on Jun 30, 2008
(fix your title)

My youngest was about 5 when he tried to run away. Not much older when he kicked a hole in the door of his brother's room. (He is the youngest). Today, he is 15 and about the best son a parent could ask for!

But yea, they know how to push buttons. And the trouble you and your wife are having is not going unnoticed by any of them. He is playing you off against each other. There is nothing you can do to him right now. He will grow out of it. But make sure your wife is not going to play the game as well. They will use one parent against the other. I did. It is natural, but that does not make it easier for the parent.

Just remember, you are the parent. Love him, and ignore this rant. To him a day is a long time, a week almost an eternity. In a month, he will have forgotten about it, or it will be just a bad memory.
on Jun 30, 2008

Thanks for the kind words DrGuy. Wish it was that simply. I have a hard time deaing with it because I am getting this sense of "we don't want you" not just from my 5 year old but from his mother and possibly from this older brother. I think the only thing that keeps my older son from rebelling is the fact that I provide him with entertainment such as video games, computer games, movies and Tv. He seems smarter to know not to bit the hand that feeds him. But i can't help but noticing he sometimes does show a bit of "I cant stand you" attitud. You know that saying "so many people can't all be wrong", or something like that.

on Jun 30, 2008
Heh, as much as I hate to admit it, Dr.Guy is right on with:

But yea, they know how to push buttons. And the trouble you and your wife are having is not going unnoticed by any of them. He is playing you off against each other. There is nothing you can do to him right now. He will grow out of it. But make sure your wife is not going to play the game as well. They will use one parent against the other. I did. It is natural, but that does not make it easier for the parent.


If you can swing it at all, I highly recommend some marriage and family counseling. You should be able to do it for free through a local church.

As far as how you react to your children, I recommend reading The Discipline Book and The Successful Child by Dr. William Sears as well as Kid Cooperation: How to Stop Yelling, Nagging and Pleading and Get Kids to Cooperate by Elizabeth Pantley.

You are going to have to take the high road. Even if your wife is reinforcing and encouraging bad behavior, you have to get your anger and frustrations under control. You seem to understand that what you are doing is risky.

on Jun 30, 2008
Let me ask you this, Charles...how much time do you spend playing with your children or doing cooperative activities like chores together?

on Jun 30, 2008

Let me ask you this, Charles...how much time do you spend playing with your children or doing cooperative activities like chores together?

 

I will admit I don't spend as much time as I should. I spend too much time being frustrated over everything that I tend to get on my PC and lose myself on the internet or games looking for some air to breath cause sometimes I fell like I'm choking. (


I do try to spend time with them such as playing games, watching cartoons and ask them to help me around the house with chores. But I know it's not enough. I will have to do something about counseling cause I am at a lose here. I will look for those books you mentioned, I know I have a hard time reading books but I will make the extra effort for my kids.