Sanity? What sanity?

Today was another good day - for the most part. Ever since pre school started, there has been a great difference in Ryan's behavior.

Conner, my 1 1/2 year old has been great for the most part, except that when this kid has a tantrum, the whole neighborhood will hear it. And they last for almost 45 minutes if I let them. Seriously, I've never seen anything like it. He's actually 22 months, almost 2 years old. I'm going to have to make him a Kidaddles video pretty soon. I think I'll start with "Its Fun to Be Nice!" and go from there. So far, he's pretty good at sharing, so I won't need to to "I Love to Share!" yet.

Should I Feel Bad?

Should I be feeling bad that I am excited that school has finally started? Because, I don't. My 3 1/2 year old had his first day of school on Tuesday and I am so happy.

I was very nervous at the start. I thought he may get into trouble with his oppositional disposition, or worse - sent home.

It went extremely well. Ryan was great and the teachers said he did wonderfully. For some reason, he is like a different kid at school. It was amazing to see the teachers take control of 19 three year olds and they all listened! It was amazing.

Kids are always better for other people, and teachers have the knack to keeping them all in check.

I am so relieved and happy with how it's going so far.

My normally naughty 3 year old is now manageable. I'm so happy.

We have a portable DVD player in our car (we bought it at walmart for $79) and he asks to see his sharing video (I Love to Share) every morning on the way to school. It must be working because he's doing great.

Today....... was good

Today was another good day! The kids were great. There were the normal scuffles, but overall great. Still looking forward to school starting, I can only pray that the good behavior continues.

My biggest fear is that I will show up at preschool to find out that my toddler was naughty or misbehaved. I hope he's good.

Toddler's misbehaving is common, but it still makes me nervous. It makes me feel like a bad parent when I can't keep them under control. When I lose my cool and yell and scream, it's just bad for everyone.

I just wish that my older son would quit hitting my younger one. Everyone tells me it will end soon, I'm just waiting for that day.

Good Days

Today was good. The kids were manageable. Not to say that I'm still not excited for school to start on Tuesday. It's probably awful that I'm excited, but that's just the way it is.

I started the day with "It's Fun to Be Nice" video, and that seemed to help. As a matter a fact, he requested to watch it in the car on the way to the park, over and over again. That's good. The more he watches it, the better it works!

School Bells may not be a ringin'

Today we had our home visit from my 3 1/2 year old's new preschool teacher. He was awful while she was here. I was so embarrassed. He had 3 time outs in the whole hour that she was here. I'm not even sure if they are going to let him in anymore.

What am I going to do with him? He hit his little brother, sat on him, told me to shut up and ran away from me. I can't wait for this stage to end. I will take the terrible twos over the terrifying threes anyday!

I am constantly being screamed at by someone in my household at every given moment of every day. If my oldest son isn't acting up, then my 1 1/2 year old is having a tantrum, and let me tell ya, he has the longest and loudest tantrums I've ever seen. Or, my husband will come home grumpy and yell at everyone. I can't win some days.

Well, I'm done with my pity party. I'm getting to bed to rest up for tomorrows boxing match, scream-fest and time out sessions.

Oh what a beautiful morning

Today was overall great. The morning was normal. Full of screaming, shouting, hitting and time outs. It sounds terrible, but it's true. My eldest will wake up wanting whatever it is that my youngest is playing with at the time, and it all goes down hill from there.

So, I guess, referee would be the best job title for my morning duties.

Then, we went to Burger King - our local indoor playground - because it was raining here. I usually stress out when we go somewhere, because I worry about my kids acting like total maniacs, but they were really good today.

I played Ryan's "I Love to Share" video before we left and that always leaves a good impression on him and helps him to behave.

Great hitter, no home run!

Although it may sound like my 3 1/2 year old has some serious problems, it really is just innocent mischievous. Well, maybe not that innocent, but certainly mischievous.

We went to the park with my best friend and her 3 1/2 year old today. Yes. It's true. Best friends having kids within 3 days of each other - not even planned. What are the odds.

Since Ryan, my 3 1/2 year old didn't get his way, he decided to throw wood chips and rocks at his friends and proceed to try and hit them with a stick. Oh yes, he got a time out at the park. Who gets time out at the park? Is it a parenting problem? Probably. Kids will only do what they can get away with.

I've tried and tried different discipline methods. Time outs seem to work best, but I need to be more consistent. My problem is that when you are dealing with it all day, every day, it gets very easy to just give in or give up. I must stop that.

Usually what I can do is pop in his "It's Fun to Be Nice!" video and he will shift into a different, more manageable gear. The videos that Kidaddles makes are great. They are personalized with photos of your kid and talk about behavioral issues like having self control and learning how to share.

Try one if your kid is as "active" (he-he) as mine are. They really do help. You can find them at Amazon.com or at Kidaddles.com

Well, signing off for the day and preparing for a new one in a few short hours.