Parenting a Strong-Willed Child

Tyler is my precious little boy. I love him beyond belief, but I have to say that even after my many years in education, he is one of the most difficult children I've ever known. He has been "high-maintenance" since Day One. He was a preemie, and most preemies have some problems with sensory integration. Tyler is no exception. Without going into too many details, he was a very fussy baby and is still a fussy child. He gets overwhelmed very easily and has always had a difficult time self-soothing. And now that he's two, he's really testing the limits (I know every 2 year old does this, but I swear he's worse than most!).

I try to be consistent in my discipline. I've read the books, I do my best with him, and yet I feel like such a failure of a parent sometimes. Are you supposed to be consistent to the point of spending the majority of the day in time-out? Seriously, nothing seems to be getting through to him. I want to discipline him in a way that he'll learn right from wrong without getting his spirit broken. He seems to be the kind of child who needs the firmest, hardest discipline techniques, but I'm terrified of breaking his spirit.

So I deal with that dilemma daily, and then I hear other people say I should do this or that and their children behave so much better, and it makes me crazy mad!! They have no idea. I would like to challenge those people to take Tyler for 24 hours and see how he is truly different, and it has nothing to do with the way I treat him. I'm doing the best I can.

This post is purely a vent. I just needed to get that out. I pray that God will show me how to love Tyler and show me how to teach Tyler how to love because he's very physically aggressive lately. I don't even know where his hitting and kicking is coming from because Mark and I are such calm, easy-going people. I want to raise a compassionate, loving child, and I can't help but feel like I'm failing at that right now. All I can say right now is "God help me."

My precious chihuahua starting having seizures again last night, and it took several hours to make them finally stop. It was a rough night, and I didn't get much sleep, and everything always seems worse when you haven't had enough sleep. Maybe I'll feel better in a day or two.