Okay, this one's for real...

We have a crying disease at our house.

I seriously have 2 kids that cry all the time. Okay, not all the time, like they lead miserable existences, but like, if they don't get want they want, then they just cry. And cry. And cry. And cry.

Until, I honestly cannot remember what they were crying about in the first place. Seriously. I will realize that Seth has been whining and crying in my vicinity for upwards of 30 minutes and I will try to figure out what started it. And half the time I can't even remember.

This is what I've tried:

1. OBVIOUSLY: addressing the problem. With the 4 year old, she's usually just mad because she has to do a job, or can't do I want, so she begins to wail. And I usually can't give in so what then? With the 2 year old (despite above average verbal skills) he usually can't or won't tell me, what the problem is...

So this doesn't work all the time.

2. I try the Positive Parenting method of: only reinforcing the GOOD behavior--so I just ignore them. I pay no attention and hope it goes away. But the next 20-40 minutes of having a whining sobbing snotty blotchy kid in your ears, is really REALLY hard to take. (And then I go to #4) I do try to notice and compliment when they react without crying, but it doesn't seem to be working.

3. Ryan sends them to their rooms ("If you need to cry, you need to do it somewhere else.") It sort of works, but I feel like I'm stifling emotion and teaching them they can't express themselves? And plus, half the time, I don't want to stop what I'm doing to remove them. And then I just hear them crying from up there anyway.

4. Yelling "STOP CRYING RIGHT NOW!" Guess what? That doesn't really work, either.

So any ideas? Send them my way. If you don't want to put in in the comments section (OR YOU AREN'T COMMENTING WHEN YOU VISIT--how rude!), you can email me at jessicaromney@hotmail.com.

Thanks!