Driving Mummy Mad!

I am close to despair! 

It's my son, I just don't know what to do with him. It's not that he's particually naughty or disobediant, he's just wired!

He starts the minute I open my eyes and doesn't stop until bedtime. He never stops asking for things whether it be a drink, an apple, a biscuit or to put his TV on and if you happen to be busy at that moment in time and don't answer him straight away he will just keep repeating the same thing again and again and again.  

One time I had to go into a shop and get some bits and rather than get both the kids unstrapped and out of the car, the OH stayed in the car with them. I was in the shop for 20 minutes, (I know this because the OH timed me) and when I came back the poor guy looked like he was ready to kill someone. Apparently our son had asked for some music on just as I got out of the car, the OH ignored him because he had already told him no. He then proceeded to ask again and again and again for the full 20 minutes without stopping once!

 I have tried everything with him from painting to football and nothing seems to hold his attention for longer than about 5 minutes. The only thing that keeps his attention is the bloody TV. I hate him watching it, when I was growing up we didn't even have a TV. I use to spend all of my time in the garden, building dens or getting creative with something. It is literally the only thing that works though and if it's a wet day he will pretty much just watch it all day! 

I take them to toddler groups, sure start activities, the park, walks, we feed the ducks, we go to soft play places but nothing seems to do it for him. We will get somewhere and you can guarantee than within 5 minutes he'll start whinning that he wants to go home or somewhere else.

I have tried sending him out into the garden with his new ball and all he does is go out there and throw the ball over the garden gate, which then proceeds to rolls down to the bottom of the village (our village is on a hill and we live on the top!) So now I don't let him do that.

He won't even play with toys, he has cars, trains, puzzles, a kitchen, colouring bits, dressing up clothes, you name it we've got it but he's just not interested.

 I just feel that if we could channel some of his energy into one thing that he enjoyed then it might just make life a bit more bearable for both of us. My daughter is just so easy in comparison, she is so happy to just be with you and yes she follows me around all day like a little puppy but she does her own thing. She's quite happy to sit and do some colouring as long as she can see where you are. She can stay in all day and amuse herself, just give her a cuddle every so often and she's fine.

I don't know, maybe it's just a boy thing. I just feel so guilty for letting him watch TV all the time. I'm hoping that as he gets older he will find something that he's into, a sport perhaps, just anything would be a start.

So what do you reckon, is this just normal behaviour for a three and a half year old? Is it just a phase that will pass? Or should I just give up now?

 

Emotions Are High

When I saw that this weeks theme for the Gallery was 'Emotion' I knew exactly which photo I would use...

My son had always been really well behaved, he was quite layed back and use to just get on with things. No terrible twos in our house and then he turned 3! It was like a switch was flicked on the minute he woke up on his 3rd birthday. I went from having a cute, lovable little 2 year old to having a screaming, possessed 3 year old. 

This picture was one of many tantrums on that particular day which resulted in me doing something that I'd never normally do. (You can read about that here).

To see the other entries into this weeks Gallery over at Tara's blog Sticky Fingers then click here.

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.