Hi dagautieri, feel free to complain all you like, that is what these forums are for - I am sure there are many others out there feeling the same way. I know I do. I think I am very hormonal lately, but these days I feel like everything is a struggle - my dd's napping, being a hostage to her napping schedule, my toddlers eating & his napping etc. etc. so it really all does run into each other. I think once you get upset about one thing, it all snowballs a little and everything starts getting you upset - that is the way I feel anyway.
I'm not sure if this will help, but I thought I'd give you a brief run down on our day mainly around the eating and where... I really struggle with what to feed ds around meal times more than snacks. I feel like his snacks are mainly healthy, but I need to make sure he eats enough veggies at meal times. But our day goes something like this;
Wake 6.30am/7am - cup of milk & breakfast in his highchair - breakfast is usually a banana & either cereal or toast (on weekends sometimes pancakes), but he hates eggs, so I can't include them in anything
Morning Tea 9.30am - fruit and yoghurt usually at his little table & chairs in the tiled living room. I usually have to sit there with him to get him to stay there to eat though
Lunch 11.15am - this is where I sometimes struggle if I don't have a pre-prepared meal for him - but probably usually leftovers - always in the highchair
Nap - 11.30am - 1pm (on a good day - one of my complaints lately, but we are getting there slowly)
Afternoon tea - 2.00pm/2.30pm - dried fruit (in the little boxes); crackers; cheese; ham sticks etc. Usually I give him a little smorgasboard - sometimes in the highchair if he is eating the dried fruit - otherwise at the little table again
Dinner 4.30pm/5.00pm (depending on bedtime) - Leftovers if he didn't have for lunch or our dinner if I have pre-prepared it - in his highchair
5.00pm / 5.30pm - Bath
30 mins before bed - cup of milk
6.00pm / 7.00pm - Bedtime (he is currently switching between 2 naps to 1, so bedtime all depends on how much sleep he has had through the day)
If we go out, I usually carry a container of plain cookies with me to give to him.
I don't base his food around his wake times (apart from breakfast of course) - I just stick to the three meals and morning & afternoon tea. It seems to work for him and I also then remember to eat my fruit and snacks through the day too.
Our play is all based our our dd's napping schedule. When she is down, ds and I play together - I take him outside in the swing (usually while I hang the washing on the line) or we colour or playdough or fingerpaint etc. When she is up, we usually just sit all together and pull faces to get dd to laugh - or ds plays on his own with his toys (which doesn't happen as often as I would like)... Anyway, I hope this helps. But feel free to just vent as that is what I feel like I need to do lately as I feel like everything is getting me down too
