pity party

Let me just stand up on my pity podium for a second.

I'm going to crab now about something that I made a new years resolution about. Way back in January, I said that I was going to try to re-connect with some folks from the past. Interestingly enough, some of those people have contacted me. I have, in turn, made every effort to write and email and stay connected. (No calls. I don't do phones well.). And, frankly, I'm feeling dissed and dismissed. I don't know if it's because everyone else out there is busier than me or what. A big part of me starts the self-deprecating thoughts that perhaps I'm not all that great a friend and that it's easy for people to write me off a little bit. Wah, wah. Boo hoo, right? Okay, I'm done with that.

Now I'll get to my parenting 101 dilemma of the week:
1. Owen's hitting
2. Owen's bed thrashing

Let me discuss. Owen will be 3 in August. He's a big guy and has not mastered the art of language at this point. He can talk-- and mostly in sentences-- but his words are most certainly not as quick as his emotions. So he has resorted to hitting. Not closed fisted punches, mind you... but slaps. "No!" Slap!

I used to think that kids that hit/bit came from overly aggressive homes (where parents hit or fought or something). Now I'm embarassed because we don't have an aggressive household at all!

Everything that I've tried: timeouts, alternatives ("We stomp our feet when we're frustrated"), lost privileges-- nothing works. I'm at a loss. My mom, helpful as she is, keeps reminding me that I was a biter. And so she bit me back and I never did it again. Unfortunately, number one, I'm not that violent. And number two, I don't want DHS on my ass.

The second troubling update is that Owen is a bed thrasher. He definitely gets this from me-- flipping around in bed, thrusting himself against the headboard, etc. He's still in a crib. I worry about transferring him to a bed because he's TOTALLY going to fall out. ALL THE TIME. And that's a bummer. It also makes a kid afraid to go to bed (at least, it did for me). Additionally, I think he likes it. What I mean is that I think he likes the feeling of his body slamming the boards like that. The reason? Because even when he's awake, he'll slam his feet against the backboard and rattle the crib like a cage. (Thankfully, no head banging. Knock on wood.)

So not only is he keeping me awake all night with his thrashing (and maybe baby, too, once baby comes out!), he's destroying his crib. Plus he's hitting when he gets pissed off.

Any child development experts out there?