My 5 year olds antics are wearing me out!

[Sealed]

Things like this are pretty much routine with her, but the other day she was really on a roll.

Listen to this: I developed a pretty bad headache (wonder why?), the kind that makes you really want to go lie down and sleep, so I decided that I would put a movie on for my 5 y/o and take a brief nap :sleepon the couch in the same room. My 11 and 9 y/o were home too, so I thought they would help keep an eye out. They apparently got really engrossed in their artwork and lego sets and didn't notice any of this...

About 30 mintutes into my nap, I was awakened by the strong smell of peppermint. It was making my eyes burn it was so strong...it was like mentholatum. I looked down on the floor next to me on the couch and our black lab was covered in an oily substance. She had the most pathetic look on her face, poor thing. I got up to go find dd and see what she had gotten into and this is what I found: There was ground coffee all over the cabinet and the coffee pot had the water reservoir filled with ground coffee and sugar, and was turned on. Dd was in the dog bed with our other dog, a german short-hair pointer, who was completely covered white with powdered sugar, and had just finished eating a whole bag of carrots. :twitch After cleaning all that up, and putting the carrot filled dog outside, I discovered reason our other dog smelled like mentholatum....dd had gotten into her sisters perfume making kit and doused our black lab with peppermint oil. Thank goodness the lab laid next to the couch and the smell woke me up, otherwise who knows what else dd would have gotten into!!! :panic

I cannot take my eyes off that child for a split second!!! I am just worn out. Going nuts! :heheeThank goodness she can go to a great preschool several mornings a week! And they aways have stories to tell me when I pick her up!

Anyone else out there have a really busy kids? What on earth do you do?

[Cd4u_2]

I don't nap, that's I do

I just make them go to bed early.. like 7pm and if I am lucky, I go to bed early too.

[wife]

I don't nap, that's I do

I just make them go to bed early.. like 7pm and if I am lucky, I go to bed early too.

HEY!! Our kids go to bed at 7 too!!!! Momma needs her rest.. And I don't nap either

[Sealed]

Well, I usually do not nap either, it is just that I had such a sleepy, bad headache...premenstrual, too. But, I have def. learned my lesson. I am stocking up on the advil and tylenol and will keep my eyelids open with toothpicks if I have to! I am 41, and I have really noticed a decline in energy over the last couple of years....in spite of vitamins and exercise....which help, it is just different now...I do not know how older moms of toddlers keep up!

[manytears]

I'm sorry - I don't mean to laugh but couldn't help myself... she is a busy little thing isn't she? Should have taken video and sent to the funniest home videos - you could have made big bucks!

[Sealed]

I laugh about it too, now!

But, oh some days! She is active and bright. Her rational for giving the dog carrots was that she was going to have a healthy snack and wanted the dog to also, she thought about the sugar b/c she had it with strawberries the other day. she thought the coffee would help me feel better, and said our lab smelled bad and she was just fixing that. :) (couldn't argue with that one)
BTW, she did help clean up most of the mess, and she got in trouble for fooling around with the coffee pot, which is dangerous IMO.

It would be great to hear stories from others....just to know that I am not alone!

[Biblenuggetlady]

Thanks for the great laughs...sorry it was at the expense of your headache though. I had 4 kids and still have 2 left at home 15 and 12 and am over 40 myself (closer to the 50 than 40...I can't believe it.) Anyway, I know EXACTLY what you mean about energy-I often say the same thing to myself, that I don't know how I did it when I was younger or how older women having children late in life can do it! I just could not do it again at my age! I often feel guilty because my 2 boys that I have at home, I feel that I don't do as much with them as I did with my older two and I am so thankful they are "self sufficient", for the most part. It sounds like your little one is very bright and intellegent, while she made a mess...her reasoning was surely right. :lol2

[run2Jesus]

I bet her older sister put up a howl about her using all her peppermint oil up.:aha I was a "big" sister and I just couldn't stand it when "little" sister got into my stuff. I was a neat nut while she was a two-legged tornado. It looks like your little girl is one of those.:aha God bless her----and you!:hug

[Sealed]

My son and daughter dubbed their little sis 'The Tornado' when she was only 18 months old! :aha

Oldest daughter was miffed about her oil, but she was quick to note that she shouldn't have left it out unattended. Guess she and I both learned a lesson that day!!:)

Thanks BNL! You do understand! :hug I feel guilt at times for not being able to spend as much time one on one with my youngest, too. While we are together most of the time, I am usually doing other things around her. I homeschool our eldest, who has learning issues, and then spend alot of time in the afternoon with our middle child, who is swamped with schoolwork this year. Our youngest, for the most part, is quite content to do her own thing, obviously! She is a really good girl, just busy and curious. It takes alot of energy to keep up with her! If I only had a fraction of her energy!

[swcolorado]

Take her outside and make her run alongside your car for a couple of miles. That ought to tire her out!

(just kidding, of course!)