WHAT DO I DO!? so frustrating!

[leyash]

the morning went great!

this afternoon, after lunch we are having some TV time (watching/learning about animals in the swamps of Louisiana)... ds2 decided to throw a fit because it's not what he wants to watch. unfortunately, he's sitting in his room for the remainder of the show.

[MamaZnR]

Originally Posted by leyash the morning went great! this afternoon, after lunch we are having some TV time (watching/learning about animals in the swamps of Louisiana)... ds2 decided to throw a fit because it's not what he wants to watch. unfortunately, he's sitting in his room for the remainder of the show.

Eh that sounds normal to me ;-)

[leyash]

now they are picking out their own toys/crafts/things and they are going to have some quiet/alone playtime for an hour. they are separated, and can do whatever they want for the hour, as long as they stay in their "spots."

[Tris]

Originally Posted by leyash my kids enjoy cleaning. i can't punish with that. they almost get excited when i tell them to clean the kitchen floor, or put away laundry. :/

That's ok though, at least they'll stop fighting and you'll have a sparkly house
My girls like cleaning my stuff, they hate cleaning their playroom though

[mmmom]

Originally Posted by leyash we don't have game systems. i mean, we do, but they don't play them. it got to the point that no matter how long they played, they would throw a fit when it was time to get off. so i cut them out of the equation all together. and yes, brushing teeth. that doesn't happen... ever. i mean, them doing it together. they each get 5 minutes in the bathroom. there is a timer on our light, so they know that when the light goes out, their time is up. i'm going to have to write up some sort of schedule tonight and see what i can do. they all light animal planet, so maybe add 1 hour of that in after lunch so they can relax, let food digest, and i can have time to eat my lunch!

I have the same problem with my son in regards to when it is time to turn it off. We had to restrict to 1 day a week and usually it is every other week because he flips out and loses his turn for the following week. You would think he would learn. I can't scrape them because the 7 year is great about her 30 min/week period and it motivates her to get her room clean on Saturday
Time to eat lunch would be like a mini vacation every day :-). I hope you can soon!!!

[leyash]

they are now in their room having "play" time, playing with legos and building stuff. we've had a couple of minor episodes today, but NOTHING like yesterday!

on another note, the baby is JUST NOW down to sleep/a nap. he hasn't slept ALL day, minus a couple of 15 minute naps. good lord. if it's not one of them, it's another, lol.

gonna work for about 30-45 minutes then start dinner!

[Nicolenutt]

So glad you're having a better day! It's so funny how it goes though, there's alway some sort of dilemma lol. Today my 3 yr old is trying to see if she can push me over the edge, yesterday it was my 5 yr old I sometimes think they're working together to conspire against me.

[leyash]

Originally Posted by Nicolenutt So glad you're having a better day! It's so funny how it goes though, there's alway some sort of dilemma lol. Today my 3 yr old is trying to see if she can push me over the edge, yesterday it was my 5 yr old I sometimes think they're working together to conspire against me.

i KNOW mine are!

[corinne76]

I feel your pain mama.
I only have 2, and they play together but fight like crazy.
I try to keep them occupied, because playing alone together creates screaming in this house. And I'm tired of screaming at them for screaming at each other.
I also work from home too, but during the summer, I have been resorting to working when my little one naps (as my 5 yr old can play nicely alone for a little while) or after they go to bed. My client work does go down at little when my DD is out of school unfortunately.
When I dont feel like taking them out, we play games at home. I have set up pillows as "islands" to jump across the ocean. we stack up blocks into 3 columns and get a rubber ball and bowl. Lame but the kids love it. They just love to do things, you know? and if I'm playing with them, it doesnt really matter what we're doing.

[mamacita1222]

Just a thought, not sure if it applies here: I don't have multiple children (yet), but I did just read a very interesting chapter in Nutureshock. Apparently, some psychologist somewhere has had great success with siblings by giving them a project/challenge/game in which they have to work together. I guess that the play becomes more civilized as they learn to play toward a common goal. Of course, the difference between a sibling and a friend is you can behave badly and your sibling is stuck with you anyways.