Jacqueline D

My 2 1/2 year old daughter doesn't like dogs unless they are tiny lap dogs. My in-laws have a big Border Collie that they got at a pound and that they can't control. The dog is mean and will snap and bite at your feet if you walk in the kitchen where his food is, he goes tearing around the house barking every time he hears a car or a motorcycle go by, and he doesn't listen to commands. The in-laws can't make the dog stop barking, jumping, or even biting at their feet--instead they make excuses for it that "we think he was abused" and the dog has control of the house. My in-laws want to watch my daughter while I go back to work, but I am scared that the dog will hurt my daughter! When we visit my husband and I ask them to put the dog in another room, but they insist he is fine and my daughter screams every time the dog comes near her. He's charged her and her toys twice now, but they in-laws think it's no big deal. They insist the dog is "part of the family". What to do?

My daughter is 28 months old (almost 2 1/2) and I am fighting with her about using the potty. I know she is old enough to use the potty during the day, but she doesn't want to use it. I have the potty in front of the TV and I'm even bribing her with a bowl full of dollar store toys to pick from each time she uses the potty successfully, but she just doesn't care. She sits on the potty for at least an hour before she finally goes, and I put underwear with plastic pants over it on her in between potty breaks so she can feel when she's wet--and she still doesn't care! She wets in them and never says a word to me--I finally notice it when the urine leaks onto her clothes. She's a very bright child and I'm starting to think that we are in a power struggle over the potty. What can I do to get through this?

Maybe I'm just really stressed out and touchy right now, but I am so sick of people giving me dirty looks when my daughter starts screaming in a store or erupts into a temper tantrum! The worst was when I had to take her with me to my aunt's funeral last night--she was being very quiet, but she was squeaking and talking a little bit (I couldn't get her to whisper--she just turned 2) and my own family was glaring at me to take her out! I spent the whole service in the the basement of the church in the nursery and wished I just stayed home. Anyone else have horror stories?

Does anyone else hate 6 pm to 8 pm (and bedtime)? My 2 year old is tantruming, having melt downs left and right, and is just generally exhausted and cranky from 6 on. It doesn't help that it's dark at 5 pm. Just had to vent. :)

What is wrong with my stupid sewing machine?!?! I'm trying to machine quilt my quilt, and everything was going fine until one of the threads started looping on top of the quilt..... I checked the manual and it said I needed to adjust the tension. I adjusted it, and it worked fine for maybe 2 squares, and now the thread coming down to the needle keeps breaking! ARGH!!!! I am ready to throw the thing! What am I doing wrong??? I have a brother LS2125

I stay at home with my 26 month old daughter and I'm running out of ideas for things to do. Today I tried to make cookies with her but she kept eating huge handfuls of dough and threw a fit when I made her stop. I try going outside and playing in the snow and make a snowman, but she just wants to dig in the neighbor's mulch. Coloring or reading can't hold her attention for longer than 1 minute, but she can sit in front of the TV watching kids movies quite happily! I really don't want her to watch kids TV ALL day and I'm having problems coming up with things to do. Any tips?

I'll admit it...I'm a cheapie....and I get my daughter's pictures taken at whatever place has a coupon! If I can't get a coupon, we head off to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has that big package for only $6.99, but it has to be the FIRST picture taken. My daughter is usually wiggling, screaming, or generally throwing a fit all throughout the pictures and the first one always looks the worst. The only ones that turn out are always the more expensive ones at the end of the roll. Does anyone else experience this? Any tips for good pictures?

I put my 2 year old daughter in her toddler bed for a nap for the first time today, thinking that it would be good to ease her into the bed during the day than at night. It was a disaster. She stood by the gate in her doorway just screaming no matter how many times I tucked her in and read her stories. After I refused to go back in, I let her scream while I went downstairs and kept an ear out for her. She banged the bedroom door open and shut 100 times, screamed off and on, pushed the heavy empty crib across the room, dug all of the books out of her bookcase and ripped pages out of them, tore all the toys out of the box, ripped the plastic window insulation off, ripped the tabs off her diapers, got in her trashcan and spread dirty diapers around the room, took all the covers off the electrical sockets, and broke her CD player. All while I was downstairs listening thinking, "She's just playing with toys, she'll go to bed soon." I am so angry right now. What do I do?

I just bought my 2 year old daughter her new "big girl bed" and she was so excited about it. She could hardly contain herself while my husband put it together tonight. We got it all set up, put her crib mattress on it along with all the old familiar sheets and blankets, and tried to tuck her in. She was not having it!!! She wanted to get up and play, she refused to lay down, she'd wiggle back out the second we put her in it....we finally just said goodnight and pulled the door shut, but she stood in front of the door screaming "No timeout!" I immediately went back in and just put the mattress back in the crib, rocked her and assured her that this isn't punishment, but her fun big girl bed. As soon as I put her in the crib she was fine. I shut the door and she rolled over and went to sleep. Now I'm scared that she's going to climb (or jump) out of her crib like she did 2 nights ago! What gives? How do I get her to sleep in the toddler bed? What am I doing wrong?

I'm really getting tired of all the "at home" parties where the hostess just wants to make money? What happened to friends getting together to hang out over a glass of wine? Why do I have to buy overpriced makeup, candles, jewelery and other junk?

There are very few auctions up from private individuals anymore....it seems like the prices on things are at least twice what the stores charge! There isn't anything used, but it's all new stuff that people are trying to make a ton of money on. It's happened within the last 6 months too. What the heck happened? What happened to the average person trying to sell the stuff from around their house?

Just wondering since she hasn't done anything recently other than Pro-active commercials and Macy's commercials. I absolutely hate the Macy commercial of her with a bunch of shoes stupidly trying to push on a pull door.....ugh. The dumb blonde act is getting old. So, seeing as she isn't doing anything that requires talent, is she still an A lister?

Why do people get on here and ask the same stupid, fake question over and over again? WHY???

I read in a magazine a list of outdated clothes you should get rid of immediately....and I was actually shocked to find nude hose on the list. When did this happen? The magazine suggested wearing none or trying leg makeup! Yuck. What is so wrong with nude hose?

Annoying noises, messy pieces.....what toy do you just wish you could throw away and never see again? My daughter loves crayons, but I can't trust her with them or she will write on the wall. She SCREAMS for them and I got so fed up I hid them on the shelf and told her I lost them. What toy do you hate?

At some of the questions on here? My favorites are the questions from high school girls asking if the guy who stares at them in the hallway likes them. They go into long details explaining every look and thought they had.

My husband and I bought a new house 5 months ago, and we want to host Christmas in our house this year and let our 2 year old daughter enjoy Christmas here without traveling. We invited the in-laws down for a long visit, and there shouldn't be a problem because they stayed here at least 6 or 7 times this summer. We insist that Christmas Eve and Christmas morning be in our home (because Santa brings our daughter's presents here, not to Grandma's). MIL suddenly decides this isn't good enough and wants us to drive 4 hours out of state to her house for Christmas, even though my husband and I both have to work and our 2 year old daughter is going to be miserable stuck in a car that long on Christmas Day. MIL is crying and guilt tripping my husband about it so much that he is actually sick with nerves and avoiding the phone! Is it so unreasonable to want to host Christmas in our own house, and make the grandparents come to us???? How should we deal with this?

She's really sleepy and whiny, but she doesn't have a fever. She just had the worst poopy/diareah diaper ever. My husband is also sick with diareah but he has a fever. What is going on? How can I help her? Should I just let her sleep until she wakes up on her own and not worry about meal times? (She only ate 2 spoonfuls of applesauce for lunch then put her head down on the table and said "So tired.") This is the 2nd day she's been like this. Should I give her tylenol?

Does anyone have any money saving tips you'd like to share? How where you able to afford to stay at home with your baby? What sacrifices did you have to make?

I am a stay at home mom and I am starting to realize that I need a schedual to get all the work around here done. Something like, Mondays are laundry day, Tuesdays grocery shopping, etc. Do any other mom's have one? Any tips on how to keep on top of everything? :)