Peace

[trix1e]

My children continue to be nasty, back-talking, screaming, shouting little monsters. The youngest more than the oldest. However, the oldest can make me just as annoyed with her eye-rolls and her stomping feet up the stairs when I ask her to do something

Comments

Break?

[joyful_healer]

Is there any way you can get breaks (like have any friends or family that can babysit)? I think I remember you said your family doesn't live nearby, but do you do any trading off with other mothers and stuff? I think taking care of yourself and your stress level will help immensely. I know I couldn't handle parenting and I have a lot of sympathy for your situation

[onthethruway01]

I sympathize with you. I have a very difficult child who is extremely bright, creative, funny and at times, the sweetest child in the world. But when she snaps, it's bad, and we all snap along with her.
We think we've resolved the "I refuse to do my homework no matter what" situation, but there's lots of other stuff we are working on. Good luck; it's not easy, I know, but you are on the right track.

Hugs, Janet.

[outlawcoon]

Parenting is exhausting, and anyone that tells you otherwise is selling something.

However, as far as I can tell the experts that tell you that your kid /wants/ you to set boundaries are totally on the money. Especially a couple of years ago, Marie would deliberately push things to punishment, and I think one part of that was figuring out that we really /would/ punish her. Giving her warnings but then following through on the punishment may settle A down in general, though it may take some wearisome drama for her to get used to changed expectations.

Good luck.

[mastertwisted]

The only problem with 3 strikes is that they know they have two more chances to disobey, and may milk more (I have watched them push and push).

This is why I believe that when they KNOW they are misbehaving, they may not get any warning. For example, I do not give 3 strikes when faced with open defiance. Period.