Sarah is my whiny child.  24 hours a day, non stop, no matter what, every day.

It is driving me crazy.  Crazier.  Craziest.

It just makes me plum insane with frustration on how to get her to stop!

How to raise a whiny child

Currently she is whining because she wants the penguin that her sister has.  There are two penguins.  One is black and white and with a yellow beak.  The other is black and white with a yellow beak.

In fact, to the trained eye, they are identical.  The exact same.  Not a stitch different. We actually bought them in the same store at the exact time in the exact location just to avoid such scenes.

But to Sarah, they are different.  Why, you ask?  Because her sister is holding the one she wants despite the fact that the other one is sitting right in front of her face.

So she is whining.   Again.

My goal as a mother is to stay as sober as possible, as fair as possible, and as integrated as possible with my children every day.  But it adds a whole new dynamic to the household when one can not form a sentence without whining.

Making me want to run screaming for the house to the nearest retail shop to spend money I don’t have.

So what can I do?  How do I deal with a whiney child?

I could whine along with her.  But my husband says I already do this so – assuming he is right {well of course he is… he is all knowing as most men are!} – she is moot to that and really, it’s just annoying compounding annoying.

I could send her to her room and at least muffle the whines?   Yes, but silly me taught the girls how to open doors and it is illegal in 43 states to lock them in.

I could calmly talk to her and explain how whining is not a solution.  Yes… this could work.  If I could get her to stop whining long enough to actually talk to her!  Sadly, that is not a joke!

I can stick a cup of milk in her mouth, turn on the TV, and let her brain rot to the tune of whatever character happens to be learning some lesson at that time.  Tempting.  Oh so tempting.

Or I can reach out to my readers and beg, on bended knee, for help in finding a reliable set of earplugs, a nanny who will work for free, or a way to – legally – deal with my child that can not even go to the bathroom without whining to me that she wants me to carry her there!

**Originally Published 07/1/2011**

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