10 things Daddy's do...

1) Please don't come in five minutes before bedtime and wind the kids up by chasing, tickling or blowing raspberries on their bellies. This is not helpful and results in it taking mummy another half an hour to calm them down and get them to go to sleep!

2) Please don't throw the kids into the air or hang them upside down by their ankles just after they have eaten, I know I keep saying it but one day they will throw up!

3)  Please don't catapult the kids onto the bed, they might think it's funny but Mummy has just made that bed!

4) Please don't scream obscenities out of the car window at fellow road users, little ears hear everything and you can guarantee that they will choose to repeat them at just the wrong moment when they are with mummy!

5) Please don't fart infront of the kids, just because they laugh hysterically it doesn't make it alright!

6) Please don't try and pretend that you can't smell that massive poo in their nappy just so you don't have to change it, the wallpaper is hanging off of the walls!

7) Please don't attempt to dress the children again. A sparkly dress, wooly tights and wellies is not a good combination, ever, especially for messy play!

8) Please don't feed them biscuits right before dinner time, I don't care if they have given you puppy dog eyes, they know what they are doing!

9) Please don't enter into long negotiations with the one year old over whether or not she can have another biscuit, save your breath we already now how it's going to end, she always win!

10) Please don't tell the kids silly things like 'If you put a slice of ham in the DVD player it will play a short film about pigs'. We can't afford to keep replacing it.

I have joined in with Actually Mummy's linky 'wot so funee?'

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.