I feel like a monster

[Yvonne Belisle]

My friend is having trouble with her daughter who is about to be three. She is pushing every boundry and determined to misbehave. Well I am babysitting tonight. I just took away her tv because she has been told to go to bed and kept getting out to play and watch tv. So I got fed up and told her if I come back in I am taking out the tv. Well I came back in and she was up again so out it went. She has been screaming as if she had been beaten for the last hour. I feel horrid but I never laid a hand on her just took away her tv. And again she is out this is really pissing me off a lot. The one year old who sees big sister misbehave is following suit by climbing out of his crib over and over. I just keep going in and putting him back in the crib so I get to hear him scream with her. Bangs head on desk argh. I love kids but this is going to drive me nuts I only had 4 hours of sleep and will be up at 4 or 5 am when mommy and daddy get home so I won't get much tonight either. If my friend didn't have to work so bad and didn't need the break so bad I am not sure I would do this tonight. If it wasn't for the fact she can't afford to loose this job I would probably call her and tell her to come home for an hour or two over this. She works an hour away so that isn't an option. At least I know it won't take that many weeks of this to get the kids on a new routine for her I just have to keep reminding myself how much I wish I had the help when I needed it. I will not leave a friend in the lurch but damn I am going to have a headache at the end of the night. Good thing there is some nice pain killers for my migraines in my room. :) When I go home I can reward myself with one dose :) By the way if anyone has some ideas to help the kids get settled with their new scheduals sooner please suggest them! Just because I have five kids doesn't mean I know everything! As a matter of fact the more kids I raise the more I realize I don't know. I may not make the same mistakes on any two kids but I still make mistakes.

[Zoritsa_Nepenthe]

Unfortunately no advice,but lots of :hugz: for you.You are a much better person then I am.I only have two kids and they are older,so can't even imagine wanting to take my nephew and niece for an entire night while they are young.

[Rowan Darkmoon]

I've found for kids who don't want to go to bed, that it's good to keep them to a very strict very tight schedule for awhile so that they get used to the idea that "after I do this, this, and this," then I have to go to bed.

Also, give them warnings, even if they are very young. Something like, "Okay first we're going to take a bath, then 30 minutes to bed. Now we'll read a book, then 20 minutes to bed... yada yada." This really helped to establish a bedtime routine with RS' son.

I think that it's best to keep the TV out of the bedroom until this whole thing is worked through. A lot of kids I've met or babysat for will fight sleep with every fiber of their being if they have something to occupy their time like TV. You think that they would drop of exhaustion...but they don't.

That's all I can suggest though. Good luck. :hugz:

[aluokaloo]

Oooh. Bummer, maybe having them a drink a cup of warm milk, and put on some soothing music. Also another good idea that I've been doing with my kid is quiet time a half hour to an hour before bedtime, I make her do quiet activities, like drawing or reading to her, or something and I try and calm down the atmosphere in the house. No exciting tv or music. I knowyoure a veteran but that might help! Best a luck to ya! No your not a monster by the way!

[Yvonne Belisle]

It's 1am and they only just fell asleep. Shoot me!

[TheWomanMonster]

It's 1am and they only just fell asleep. Shoot me!

Kapow.

Holy, you're a stronger woman than I.
:hugz:

[Heather05]

I know your pain. My daughter just turned 3 and she too is at her "testing the boundaries" stage. I thought she would have gone through it more in her twos but no such luck. My little angel has recently learned that she can climb up on her tv stand and turn on her own tv and dvd player. So, it's quite frustrating. But, she is getting better. I moved everything away from the stand so she no longer had any help getting up there and she did stop the climbing. Then came the challenge of getting her to stay in her bed long enough to fall asleep. Which made no sense to me why she started getting up since she'd been staying in it for over a year and a half. I guess kids just like to be confusing sometimes.:) So, I started being more strict with her nighttime schedule. She gets about a half an hour of tv time, a bath, then she picks out her own book for storytime. It took about a week for her to figure out that after the story was over, she had to go to sleep. Now about a month later, she falls asleep before the story is even over.

[Sun Sprite]

If they have their days and nights mixed up, try (if you can) to keep naps to earlier in the day, and over by 3pm. A regular bedtime helps, but isn't always possible when babysitting. As a babysitter, you have to depend a lot on the parents doing their part when they are home. Are they makeing the kids sleep during the day when they sleep? If so, maybe you have to plan for the kids to be up playing all night. Sad, but true. She will have to reverse their schedules brfore they start school though, or home school them at night.

Best wishes

[Yvonne Belisle]

No they sleep at night Mom only works Friday and Saturday nights so it isn't that. Naps are after lunch and up by 3 this is just sheer stubborn kids testing limits. Normal but driving us all insane. :)

[aluokaloo]

It's 1am and they only just fell asleep. Shoot me!

sorry that's illegal, I don't wanna get thrown in prison, I'' just do this instead:fpoke:

[moonchild]

I applaude you for following though and being consistant!!!!! thats what's going to make the biggest difference with these two. make sure mom is doing the same when she isn't working, or the kids will just start using mommy against you.

[Revilo]

I've found for kids who don't want to go to bed, that it's good to keep them to a very strict very tight schedule for awhile so that they get used to the idea that "after I do this, this, and this," then I have to go to bed.

Also, give them warnings, even if they are very young. Something like, "Okay first we're going to take a bath, then 30 minutes to bed. Now we'll read a book, then 20 minutes to bed... yada yada." This really helped to establish a bedtime routine with RS' son.

I think that it's best to keep the TV out of the bedroom until this whole thing is worked through. A lot of kids I've met or babysat for will fight sleep with every fiber of their being if they have something to occupy their time like TV. You think that they would drop of exhaustion...but they don't.

That's all I can suggest though. Good luck. :hugz:

I have to do the warning thing with my son. He knows bedtime is 8pm, but if he hasnt realised or is busy doing something he sulks like crazy and it causes such an unpleasent bedtime experience...''please mum im drawing for so and so at school'', ''I need a drink Im thirsty'' ''can I just finish this'' At 7.50pm I always tell him to wind up what he is doing and look at the time and at 8pm he has got himself ready for bed and is finding me to give me a kiss goodnight. The contrast is crazy with him.

[Yvonne Belisle]

Well they were better last night and hopefully I won't have to many problems with them tonight. It is just going to take a while to get them used to the changes.

[Willow Rosette]

Wow and kids are usually better for someone who isnt their parent. How do they act with her? I would sit down with Mom and set a strict schedule that the both of you can understand and follow. Maybe try explaining to her the side effects of letting her kids watch TV in bed? Either way, Goodluck honey. 1 in the morning is nuts!

[Yvonne Belisle]

They are worse for mommy. We sat down and ironed out some rules for them. I think it is too funny the other day she IMed me to come down since her daughter was being difficult. I knocked and heard her go "who is it" My friend said Aunt Eve. The next thing you hear is "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" and crying. She knew she wasn't going to get her way. We have the agreement that should she ever feel at the end of her rope to get me and I will spell her for a bit so she can calm down.

[Willow Rosette]

Mom is lucky to have you, but does she realise she is giving away her place as head of the house by calling you in? Sounds like it is time for Super Nanny to come in LOL

[Yvonne Belisle]

I think she just wants to get the kids in order now. I also tend to reinforce Mommy said.... whenever I come over. Hopefully we can get it to work for her.

[Xander67]

when I was a kid, I was lucky if I had a radio in my room, now the kids have color tv's , computers, phones, not to mention all the toys...

taking away a tv does not a monster make...

[Xander67]

Mom is lucky to have you, but does she realise she is giving away her place as head of the house by calling you in? Sounds like it is time for Super Nanny to come in LOL

NOOOOOOOOO :wah: not the naughty mat, please anything but the naughty mat:fpraise:

[LightDancer]

In my humble opinion....kids shouldn't have a television in their room anyways...and the three year old has demonstrated exactly why. Good for you, their mom should have thought of that;) You are definately NOT a monster.

Kids are so spoiled these days.

Jamie