How much can you really discipline a 3 year old?

As you may or may not have read in my previous post, we are having a lot of problems with our 3 year old's behaviour recently.
He has become aggressive, he screams and pushes me, he is defiant and he will do anything to insight a fight.
I have tried everything, the naughty step, sending him to his room, shouting at him and finally just ignoring him and none of it seems to make the slightest bit of difference. I keep telling myself that he is too young, he doesn't understand and he can't control himself but surely they must be able to by this age.
I am actually at the point of just walking out because I really don't know what to do with him.

I have become obsessed with watching Super Nanny, trying to get new ideas, and then today I came across a new blog Psychology Mum.
She writes about using marbles as a reward for good behaviour, each time the child does something good they put a marble in a pot, then when the pot is full they get a reward. Then when the child is naughty instead of taking away a marble you take away one of the toys for a period of time. (She explains it better on her blog lol).

Photo by Darren Tunnicliff - Flickr

She also talks about the 1,2,3 magic method, where you give your child 3 changes to behave or then they get punished, it's suppose to give them time to stop misbehaving (again she explains it better on her blog).

So I've now decided that I'm going to try a combination of these three methods, the marbles in the pot, taking away toys and 1,2,3, magic and see what happens.
I think this will be good for us because it gives me a clear way of dealing with him in a structured way while also making it clear to him what is expected of him and also the consequences of his actions.
I'll keep you updated as to how this is going. Wish me luck I'm going to need it.

Im off to the House of Marbles now, need to stock up.

Packing, packing and more packing!

Been lost in a bit of a packing frenzy the last couple of days.
I really freaked out the other morning when I looked at my calendar and realised that we only have 2 and a bit weeks till we move and up until that point I hadn't packed a single box. So that is all I have been doing since then.
I have moved house more times than my age and it still never gets any easier, you think I'd be a dab hand at it by now.
Of course it doesn't help that while you are trying to get organised and leave the house in a fit state for the landlady to make sure you get your deposit back, your son suddenly takes a dislike to the curtains and curtain pole in the dinning room and rips them both off the wall!! But not just content with one room he then does exactly the same in his sisters room. Arrgh cross was not the word.
We have been in this house for 6 months and they haven't damaged a single thing, so why 2 weeks before we move does he do that?

On Saturday I did laugh at the other half though, he decided to have an afternoon nap on the sofa, never a wise idea with two little ones around, you could end up with all sorts of things shoved up your nose. Anyway why he was snoozing I was packing and I got really into it and manged to pack every ornament, picture and decorative item that we have in the house. So when he woke up the entire house was bare. Think he found it quite surreal, he went to sleep with everything normal and woke up to an empty house. That'll teach him for laughing at my cake lol. (See previous post).

Well better get back to it.

Follow a Newbie Friday

This is my first time for joining in with this so I hope I get it right.
Since starting my Blog I have come across so many other great ones.
Most of my free time now is taken up either reading other people's or working on my own, much to the other half's disgust.

So this week I'm going to share with you some of the other Newbie Blogs that I have found and really enjoy reading...

• 365 Pearls of Wisdom - http://365pearlsofwisdom.blogspot.com/

Karen was the first ever other Mummy blogger I made contact with, I have followed her blog from the start and always enjoy reading it. I love the way she always seems so down to earth and relaxed about parenting.

• A Twenty Something Mummy - http://atwentysomethingmum.blogspot.com/

This is Chloe's blog and It's great. She has a fab sense of humour and I always find myself laughing out loud while reading it. Always puts a smile on my face when I see she has written a new post.

To join in with Follow a Newbie Friday then go to http://slummytoyummymummy.wordpress.com/follow-a-newbie-friday/

Super Mummy

Photo by jcsizmadi

Today I was Super Mummy (well at least I felt like it.)
I have had a hugely productive day.

Here are some of the things I have got done today...

I visited and filled out all the necessary forms for H 's new pre school.
I filled out all the forms for H's free child care entitlements that start in April.
I brought my nephew's birthday card and present and wrapped it.
I ordered flowers to be delivered to my mum for mothers day.
I cooked the kids a healthy and filling lunch.
I donated a load of the kiddies old clothes to charity, trying to clear out before the move.
I brought and posted a birthday card for the other half's Nan.
I got people to sponsor H in his easter raffle for pre school,
I ordered H's special dairy free easter eggs. Having one child with a dairy intolerance means Easter is a nightmare in our household!
I spent the afternoon playing with the kids in the garden.
I even baked my first ever Victoria Sponge, although it would be wrong to call it a sponge and a more appropirate name for it would be Victoria Rock.
You should know at this point that up to about 4 months ago I had NEVER cooked anything before in my life. Bascically a mix of having a partner that's a qualified chef and living in a pub with our own chef for the last 2 years has meant I've not had to learn. Bad I know, but I'm making up for it now... well trying to.
I was quite proud of my sponge until the other half came home, took one look at it and burst out laughing. Not the reaction I was going for.
Now don't laugh but here's a pic


So that was my day, probably doesn't look like much to anyone else but to me it was good.

Last Holiday of Freedom

This weeks gallery theme is Light.

I have chosen this picture of my sister, I love the lights reflecting all around her.
This picture was taken on my last ever child free holiday. I was three months pregnant and my partner had gone away to Le Mans so my sister and I booked a last minute holiday to Spain.
It was quite a subdued hoilday, obviously with being pregnant, but still will be one I will remember forever.
I spent most of the time being terrified by ever twitch or slight bit of pain I felt, having never been pregnant before I was a little paranoid. It was also the only adult holiday I had been on without enjoying the all inclusive bar.
This was my last week of freedom, in the sense of no responsabilities, and although it definatley wasn't the most fun filled or action packed holiday I have ever been on it will always hold a special place in my heart. x

See more Gallery entries over at Tara's blog at http://stickyfingers1.blogspot.com/

Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

I've recently been watching Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and I find it fascinating learing about their values and ways of life.

I was watching it the other night and I felt a bit jealous of the massive support system that the mothers have around them at all times. It must make raising children that bit easier.
Maybe that is why they all seem to have a lot of children and appear to cope really well. (I have two and struggle to cope most of the time.)
These women are actually quite amazing, they still live in a very male dominated society, they are expected to get married and have children when they are still just children themselves and on top of that they are expected to keep an immaculate home. I say hats off to them.

Photo by beamillion

I have been reading a lot of articles recently about mothers of today and how they cope with motherhood and the general consensous seems to be that modern day mothers are struggling more with raising children than our grandparents did because of the lack of support from family. The main reason for the lack of support is because families now tend to live further apart than we did before. This to me makes a lot of sense and I often feel that if I had better support from family it might make, raising children, just a bit more bearable.

This is why I love watching Gypsy Weddings, I love the fact that they hold on to traditional old fashioned values. They all look out for each other and it must be comforting to have that around you, especially in the child raising years which can be very isolating and lonely.
I look forward to watching it again tonight.

Panic Attack

Yesterday was a horrible day!
It started out fine, the kids had spent the night at their Aunties and my man and I had a bit of a lie in (first in years).
We then got up, got dressed and had a nice peaceful breakfast, all lovely.
Then as we went to leave, to go and pick up the kids, I suddenly felt like I had been stabbed in the chest with a knife. The pain was unbearable, my whole chest got really tight and I couldn't breathe. Everytime I took in a breath it felt like I was being stabbed again.

I have suffered with panic attacks since I ws 16 and have learnt over time how to handle them. I'm use to the shortness of breath but I've never had pain like that before and because of that I paniced and then proceeded to have a full blown panic attack as well as the pain.
Before this I had gone nearly 4 years without a single panic attack and thought they might have gone for good, obviously I was wrong.

I don't really remember much after that, I think the adrenaline had kicked in, but I know we went to the hospital.
When we got there they did all the necessary checks, blood pressure, heart monitor, lungs etc and all came back normal.
They decided that I must have a trapped nerve either in my back or neck. I had know idea that a trapped nerve could cause you that much pain and make you unable to breathe. I had convinced myself that I was having a heart attack. Clearly I wasn't.
They said it could take up to a week before I feel better and it hasn't helped having the two little ones hanging off me all day. I feel worse now than I did yesterday. So I shall drug myself up with pain killers, fill up my hot water bottle and go to bed.
The only thing I'm worried about now is that because I have had that panic attack I now might have more, it's almost like once you have one you then have a whole load in one go. Also now that i'm worried about having another panic attack, I ultimatley will have another one becausee I'm tense and worried about having one, it's a vicious cycle.
However just getting that off my chest has helped. Does anyone else suffer from panic attacks? If so what do you do to control them?