Screaming Fits
Another cool thing about our apartment – instead of door stoppers on every door/wall like we have back home, there are little metal plates and magnetic “domes” behind every door. So not only do I not have to worry about Liz playing with and subsequently losing or eating the little white caps, but the doors STAY open! I assume they do that more for earthquakes than for the actual point of keeping a door open – since during an earthquake, doors tend to swing easily. It also can be really windy when the windows are open, so those really help keep from slamming shut all the time. Sometimes even the littlest things are so neat.
We have two air purifiers and one dehumidifier in the house. I am amazed at how much water our dehumidifier collects in a 24 hour period. Granted, we keep it in the bathroom, but it’s a lot of water. I am looking forward to having it back home in our bathroom, which is a breeding ground for mildew and is always damp. The air purifiers are nice – sometimes I think they aren’t doing much, but then I realize what a difference in dust between the rooms that we use them in and the rooms that we don’t. They really do make a difference.
Yesterday I had a horrible afternoon with Ashley. Let me just start out by saying I love my child with all my heart and soul. There are just times when I do not understand her in the least bit and that would be yesterday. I picked her up from school; it was drizzly and miserable outside. She was in a good mood, or at least I thought so. I was thinking since she was great when I dropped her off that it would be good to reward her, so I told her we were going to go somewhere for a treat (maybe ice cream). She was excited, so we started walking. I also had another plan that involved meeting Anthony near 101 since he was in the area meeting with some tax people. I thought we could go for treat, meet Anthony and then finally open up a bank account here so we can quit relying on cash withdrawals every few days. As we were walking, Ashley starts complaining her legs hurt (this is becoming an everyday occurrence) and she starts screaming at the top of her lungs. She refuses to talk to me, only screaming, crying, and thrashing around. It is now raining and she won’t hold umbrella, I have Liz strapped to me in carrier and I have the stroller with too (in case we stopped at grocery store, so I would have a way to carry groceries). We are all getting soaked since Ashley refuses to move and if I try to walk around her to find shelter, she pushes her whole body onto the stroller so it won’t move. I can’t pick her up because I have Liz (26 lbs!) on me. Ashley throws herself on the ground (in the rain, in a puddle) and thrashes about, kicking and screaming. This whole ordeal went on for about 25 minutes. Me trying to talk to her, reason with her, find out what is wrong, how I can fix it, what I can do to help and her just crying – not answering me, just screaming. I finally said, that’s it – we are going home, get in the stroller. She climbed in and I had to push her (36 lbs) in the stroller (which is very hard to steer one handed), while having Liz on me, and holding an umbrella. Ashley refused to hold her umbrella, so by the time we made it back to the apartment, she was soaking wet. It was such great fun. Once we got to the apartment, she was fine. Talking, chatting, happy. I tried to talk to her about what happened but I don’t think she understands. Anthony took charge when he got home and once the girls were fed and bathed, he took over putting Ashley to bed. She started whining as soon as he mentioned brushing teeth. So, he ended up in her room with her – she was screaming, crying while he sat on the floor – ignoring her. She did not like this and kept getting closer and closer to him until she was right up in his face, screaming. I was locked in our bedroom, trying to not intervene. She finally calmed down, he laid down with her and she eventually fell asleep – when he got up to leave – she barely opened her eyes and managed to whisper “I’m not tired” as she fell back asleep. It took 45 minutes from start to finish – much better than 2.5 hours, but still! It never used to be this difficult.
Today I went to a nearby park with Angie and Joseph. Angie has a full time helper now – Sumi (don’t know if that’s how you spell her name), she’s from Indonesia and speaks Chinese only, no English. She’s helps out with Liz too when we’re out so it’s nice to have her along. It is interesting to see Angie adjust to having someone around full time to help her. She’ll hopefully rely on her more when baby #2 arrives (you know what I mean Angie!). After the park, we went to Taipei 101, stopped by the bookstore, where I got a book on disciplining your preschooler. I don’t really know if our issue is understanding a preschooler or disciplining a preschooler, so I’ll read this and see if I get any insightful messages out of it. We then ate lunch in the food court there. It always amazes me how many tourists are there during the day and I no longer go there on a daily basis, as I did when we were at the Hyatt, so I’m not used to seeing them all the time. People taking pictures and getting all excited about being there, while we are there just to get our shopping done.
Liz is down for a MUCH needed nap right now, so I’m going to rest some. I haven’t been feeling well lately, I think just a cold, at least I hope so.
We have two air purifiers and one dehumidifier in the house. I am amazed at how much water our dehumidifier collects in a 24 hour period. Granted, we keep it in the bathroom, but it’s a lot of water. I am looking forward to having it back home in our bathroom, which is a breeding ground for mildew and is always damp. The air purifiers are nice – sometimes I think they aren’t doing much, but then I realize what a difference in dust between the rooms that we use them in and the rooms that we don’t. They really do make a difference.
Yesterday I had a horrible afternoon with Ashley. Let me just start out by saying I love my child with all my heart and soul. There are just times when I do not understand her in the least bit and that would be yesterday. I picked her up from school; it was drizzly and miserable outside. She was in a good mood, or at least I thought so. I was thinking since she was great when I dropped her off that it would be good to reward her, so I told her we were going to go somewhere for a treat (maybe ice cream). She was excited, so we started walking. I also had another plan that involved meeting Anthony near 101 since he was in the area meeting with some tax people. I thought we could go for treat, meet Anthony and then finally open up a bank account here so we can quit relying on cash withdrawals every few days. As we were walking, Ashley starts complaining her legs hurt (this is becoming an everyday occurrence) and she starts screaming at the top of her lungs. She refuses to talk to me, only screaming, crying, and thrashing around. It is now raining and she won’t hold umbrella, I have Liz strapped to me in carrier and I have the stroller with too (in case we stopped at grocery store, so I would have a way to carry groceries). We are all getting soaked since Ashley refuses to move and if I try to walk around her to find shelter, she pushes her whole body onto the stroller so it won’t move. I can’t pick her up because I have Liz (26 lbs!) on me. Ashley throws herself on the ground (in the rain, in a puddle) and thrashes about, kicking and screaming. This whole ordeal went on for about 25 minutes. Me trying to talk to her, reason with her, find out what is wrong, how I can fix it, what I can do to help and her just crying – not answering me, just screaming. I finally said, that’s it – we are going home, get in the stroller. She climbed in and I had to push her (36 lbs) in the stroller (which is very hard to steer one handed), while having Liz on me, and holding an umbrella. Ashley refused to hold her umbrella, so by the time we made it back to the apartment, she was soaking wet. It was such great fun. Once we got to the apartment, she was fine. Talking, chatting, happy. I tried to talk to her about what happened but I don’t think she understands. Anthony took charge when he got home and once the girls were fed and bathed, he took over putting Ashley to bed. She started whining as soon as he mentioned brushing teeth. So, he ended up in her room with her – she was screaming, crying while he sat on the floor – ignoring her. She did not like this and kept getting closer and closer to him until she was right up in his face, screaming. I was locked in our bedroom, trying to not intervene. She finally calmed down, he laid down with her and she eventually fell asleep – when he got up to leave – she barely opened her eyes and managed to whisper “I’m not tired” as she fell back asleep. It took 45 minutes from start to finish – much better than 2.5 hours, but still! It never used to be this difficult.
Today I went to a nearby park with Angie and Joseph. Angie has a full time helper now – Sumi (don’t know if that’s how you spell her name), she’s from Indonesia and speaks Chinese only, no English. She’s helps out with Liz too when we’re out so it’s nice to have her along. It is interesting to see Angie adjust to having someone around full time to help her. She’ll hopefully rely on her more when baby #2 arrives (you know what I mean Angie!). After the park, we went to Taipei 101, stopped by the bookstore, where I got a book on disciplining your preschooler. I don’t really know if our issue is understanding a preschooler or disciplining a preschooler, so I’ll read this and see if I get any insightful messages out of it. We then ate lunch in the food court there. It always amazes me how many tourists are there during the day and I no longer go there on a daily basis, as I did when we were at the Hyatt, so I’m not used to seeing them all the time. People taking pictures and getting all excited about being there, while we are there just to get our shopping done.
Liz is down for a MUCH needed nap right now, so I’m going to rest some. I haven’t been feeling well lately, I think just a cold, at least I hope so.
posted by The Armstrongs at
11/23/2004
