Maintaining Discipline, etc. When Sick

[pensmama87]

I’m approaching the end of my first trimester of pregnancy, but I’m still feeling pretty sick a lot of the time. I feel like my capacity for disciplining my other children has gone straight into the toilet with today’s breakfast (sorry, is that TMI? ) It’s harder for me to follow through on traditional punishments, and I’ve gotten lax about some rules because they take too much energy to enforce. The kids, of course, have an intuitive sense about my extra vulnerability and are in full-on taking advantage of it mode. They are almost 4 and almost 2.

My one thought is that I should feel better in around a month even if it’s not 100%, and it’s warming up so I’ll be able to send them outside to run and be insane without too much that they can do to get in trouble out there, so maybe that will help with their behavior indoors.

Other ideas? I know I’m not the only parent who has faced this!

 

[Xantippe]

I’m approaching the end of my first trimester of pregnancy, but I’m still feeling pretty sick a lot of the time. I feel like my capacity for disciplining my other children has gone straight into the toilet with today’s breakfast (sorry, is that TMI? ) It’s harder for me to follow through on traditional punishments, and I’ve gotten lax about some rules because they take too much energy to enforce. The kids, of course, have an intuitive sense about my extra vulnerability and are in full-on taking advantage of it mode. They are almost 4 and almost 2.

My one thought is that I should feel better in around a month even if it’s not 100%, and it’s warming up so I’ll be able to send them outside to run and be insane without too much that they can do to get in trouble out there, so maybe that will help with their behavior indoors.

Other ideas? I know I’m not the only parent who has faced this!

I think it’s OK to moderate your discipline according to your ability to follow through.

With my older children, I have a completely undeserved reputation for being invincible, as I make a point of not picking fights I can’t win and then winning all the fights I do pick. When the kids were littler, my win-lose stats were much less impressive.