The Witching Hour...........YIKES!

My son had this badly as a newborn.. and I've noticed it resurfacing as a toddler. I think the main issue is overstimulation. Just be sure to try to keep everything quiet.. maybe put the dog outside, have your son watch a movie, or play quietly in his room.

It also might help to give your little guy some special attention right before things start getting hectic fixing dinner and stuff. I'll definitely be reading the posts to see what other moms said!

Good Luck!

A.

Hi J....
[a familiar face :)]
I usually put on a movie at this time. I know it is the lazy way out but it would buy me a few minutes to get dinner done. Sometimes I would spread an old shower curtain on the floor at the far end of the kitchen and let my son play with playdough there. He liked being where he could see me but was into the playdough enough to stay on the mat and out of the way. Good luck

You can contact me for help with the dog! I'm a dog trainer living in The Colony. I have lots of useful ideas for busy moms on how to juggle the kids and the dog. K. Breeden, www.bekindtodogs.com

J.,

I totally understand! What I found helpful was to feed the dog first! I also make meals ahead of time. I buy chicken in bulk, marinate as much as I need for my family of 4 (I use Homemake Gourmet mixes alot), then put all the meals in ziplock freezer bags and freeze. Thaw one meal a day ahead of time and it's ready to either put in the oven or stick in the crockpot to save time during the "witching hour". I do the same with pork, or any meal I make I'll make one for that night and freeze another for later (ex: lasagna, meatloaf).

Do you ever look for ways to supplement your income? I work with a 27 year old youth minister in a home based business. With this business he has helped fund a building project at his church and a non-profit baseball organization for kids. Reading that your husband is a youth minister made me think you might be interested in hearing more. Feel free to contact me.

Good luck with "the witching hour"! It does get better as they get older.
K.

I know all about the witching hour! I work full time, so when I pick my daughter up from school... watch out! She's excited to see me, so she's all hyped up, but I have to get dinner on, let the dogs out etc. I spent a lot of time feeling guilty about not giving 100% of my attention to my daughter right away and stressed out that I had to get so many things done, but I finally realized that I'm not perfect, so why do I try to make it that way? Luckily for me, my dh is pretty laid back, so he doesn't care if we have a big meal every night, so I stopped making big meals every single night. He's perfectly happy w/ a simple salad or ordering pizza most week nights and then I cook a big dinner on the weekends. When I do cook dinner during the week, I let my daughter watch a tv show, color at the table or do playdoh while I cook. The dogs get put out back & walked later in the night. After dinner my daughter gets 100% of my attention to play, read, etc until I give her a bath and put her in bed. She's happy and I'm happy and a lot less stressed out. When it's nice out, we'll sometimes take a walk/bike ride around the block as soon as we get home and that calms her down too. It's what works for us.
Good luck!