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• 
• by
  • smsprice
  on Jun. 6, 2008 at 2:38 PM
• My kids are ages 13,9, & 6 & OMG are they a handful. Im a newly single mom (there dad takes them often but lives in a seperate place) my 13yr old, well shes a drama queen she is bossy & she talks back all the time. But she is my savior I could not do things without her. My 9 yr old is my daredevil she is not affraid of anything. She is always cooking up some plan & fights with her sister & brother. My 6 yr old is my little man. He is an emotional boy & loves to be held by mommy. He does argue alot with his sisters & he worships playing with his cars.

• 
• by
  • tattooedsuess
  on Jun. 6, 2008 at 2:50 PM
• I have an almost 5 YO and a 1 YO.  My 5 YO is my challenge child.  He is always so energetic and chatty, and loves to help out.  I'm not saying those are bad things, just challenging sometimes.
  
  He is currently being very defiant, and we are having a really hard time getting him to stop calling names.  I have basically given up on yelling, since it doesn't work anyway, and am trying so hard not to fall back into the trap of hitting again.  Man is it ever hard sometimes to come up with creative ways to discipline!
  
  We just moved a week ago Wednesday, so I think we've all been a little more high strung than usual, and I believe that that's where a lot of his defiance is coming from.  Also because he isn't getting all of the attention that he wants either.
  
  I have personally called Lisa and had heart to hearts with her, because the woman is such a fount of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.  I am always open to suggestions and ideas, since we're all here to learn and grow as mothers.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   

   

• 
• by
  • Kid_Coach
  on Jun. 6, 2008 at 2:51 PM
• My girls are almost 6, 4.5, 20m....Maddie is the rules-oriented, sensitive child.  Ellie is the *well, it wasn't said exactly that we couldn't do this so let's just try* and incredibly social child.  Jessie is still very young, but she is my daredevil...she follows her sisters and will even climb up the playground and down the slide by herself (her dad said *she's fine* as he's pushing the 5yo on the swing 100y away!)  Jessie is also the funniest little expression gal and the one who I think will test the limits the most....because she's #3, because she's so stinkin' cute, and because she's known what she wants since the day she was born - and quite vocal about it!!
  
  My childhood left me very much wanting to do things differently.  At the same time, I do not want to just swing the pendulum the other direction without thought.  I've done a lot of pondering about kids and childhood and parenting.  I was one of those *BEST PARENT EVER* prior to having kids - LOL!!!  Now, it's not quite so easy, but I still find myself with an opinion about everything - just a little more compassionate about it!
  
  
  

• 
• by
  • NativePhoenix
  on Jun. 6, 2008 at 5:19 PM
• Let me start by saying I LOVE this group idea!  A good friend of mine is AMAZING and creative discipline and talks about starting a support group in our area, so this is right where I need to be...with all of you!
  
  I'm a SAHM of 3.  My oldest DD, Rhavenn, is almost 7, but acts like she's going on 17.  She can be VERY strong willed and defiant.  I have a difficult time communicating with her because she gets very defensive and shuts down when we try to talk to her about bad behavior.  My DS, Breckin, is 3 1/2 and is my little explorer.  He is a handful because he likes to wander away from me even in unfamiliar places.  He is also starting to pick up on some of Rhavenn's disrespectful habits.  This scares me...A LOT.  My youngest DD, Serenity, is only 3 weeks old.  I'm hoping to improve my parenting skills before she gets old enough to pick up on the bad behavior that I'm having such a difficult time correcting in my older two.  As of right now, I'm doing OK changing MY bad parenting habits.  We don't hit.  Timeouts don't really seem to work.  I'm working REALLY hard to stop yelling.  I've gotten some good advice from a friend and am able to remember to use it sometimes.  One day at a time!

  Jillian, Wife to Curtis, Mother to Rhavenn & Breckin, Due May 17

  Change your family's life by creating a healthy home at www.midwestgreenliving.com

  

  

   

   

• 
• by
  • butrflychick23
  on Jun. 7, 2008 at 9:28 AM
• I have a five year old son and an almost two year old daughter. I am a SAHM and my husband is in the Army so I live as mommy and daddy for a long time and then daddy comes back..sometimes its hard to let him deal with them and I get frustrated.
  
  My son was a VERY well behaved little boy until we moved back to NY for the short year my husband was out of the military. Between the grandparents spoiling him and letting him do whatever and partly because he saw my younger sister mistreat every adult figure around and never get in trouble. So now he has turned into a boy who won't listen to you, throws fits, and has an attitude. There are days I just have to walk away from him because I am at odds ends and nothing seems to work. I have taken away toys, t.v. and games. He gets very excited over the little things, talks consitentily, and sometimes is a very big handful...but the plus side to that is he is VERY loving....he will come up for no reason and give me hugs and kisses.
  
  My daughter well she is almost the same as my son in many ways. She has yet to really "talk back to me" but she is very adventrous. I often have a hard time letting her do stuff since everything her brother does she does. I am afaird that she will hurt herself. My challenge with her is she is my baby and sometimes I have to relax and tell myself to let her live and learn in doing things she will figure it out. She is a cuddlebug when she wants it, and it has to be on her terms.
  
  They love to annoy which drives me crazy. I know that is part of the brother/sister love but at times I wonder if it goes to the extreme. He knows stuff that will make her yell and cry and continues to do it....and then comes crying to me when she bites...yikes she just started....or she hits him. I have tried to explain to him that if he doesn't share she doesn't have to words...and I have sat her in a chair but it keeps happening!!
  
  Okay so thats about it and I am really looking forward to learning more! Thanks! Oh and my childhood sucked, mom was never around, never wanted to be apart of anything, and well my real dad was never around he took off, and my step dad was an absolute jerk and used his hand, and temper. I don't want to be there with our kids. I think being compassion will work better than getting mad. Actually we both had crappy childhoods so yeah we want the best for our kids.
  • 

  & mommy to two army brats

• 
• by
  • latida
  on Jun. 8, 2008 at 1:35 PM
• I am a single Mom to one dd.
  She is eight going in the third grade. This past school year she did have some behavioral problems, but it was also an emotional year for her, since her father has fallen off the face of the earth. I do not condone her behavior or want her to have a crutch.
  I look for ward to getting to know the rest of the fine Moms here and learn from one another.
  Some things that I have had dd this past year.....was write definitions....and then use the word in a sentence. Ex. If she was being disrespectful, I would have her write the definition for respect a few times and then make a sentence with it.

• 
• by
  • rivka-g
  on Jun. 9, 2008 at 8:27 AM
• I have a 7 year daughter and an 8 year old son. My daughter is very bright and outgoing. My son is very bright and very painfully shy. I homeschool them, in great part because of the way the school system chose to deal with my son in school. He was so bored that he absolutely shut down. I sent them my bright, sunny, happy little boy, and by the time I pulled him out he was sullen, and angry, and very much out of control. It has been a little over a year now, and he is almost back to his cheerful self but I wish that I had pulled him earlier. We are still dealing with the aftermath of his school experience. A lot of our "therapy" has been exercise, exercise, exercise!

  

  "Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he's not
  interested it's like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it
  eating." - Barbara Lamping

• 
• by
  • quietside
  on Jun. 9, 2008 at 9:17 AM

• Quoting Kid_Coach:
  
  I was one of those *BEST PARENT EVER* prior to having kids - LOL!!!  Now, it's not quite so easy, but I still find myself with an opinion about everything - just a little more compassionate about it!
  
  
  

  
  I always joke that I was a much better parent BEFORE I had a child.
  Well I'm Robin, I am SAHM with a little guy who is about to turn 3. He was premature and tiny. So he's a stubborn, defient, persistent creature. I try to remember to thank God for this every day, because I believe it's the only reason he is here with us today.
  He has sensory integration issues, which makes life interesting and frustrating (for both of us). He's been slow to reach his milestones, but has so far. He's bright, curious yet cautious, unique and quirky. He's usually very happy and laid back. But he's very controlling and manipulative. (I'm facinated with this aspect of his development/personality and the possible role his sensory issues have played.) When he's unhappy or uncomfortable, he lets the whole word know. And this is where the real challenge comes in. He also has eating issues that lead to MUCH frustration (for both of us). He makes me smile and laugh, even as I'm pulling out my hair.
  Since giving birth I've tried to learn all I can about child development and discipline. I firmly believe discipline is about teaching children. I enjoy reading parenting books, looking for different persectives and creative ways to discipline. My reading has slowed, because our small library has a very limited selection (and sadly gas and food prices have ended luxury purchases of used parenting/discipline books). So I'm very excited to find this group. I look forward to sharing and learning.
  "The bored child is one who has never learned to be creative."--K. Hirsh-Pasek

• 
• by
  • Meswtp
  on Jun. 9, 2008 at 8:46 PM
• I have a 13 year old dautgher, 11 yr old son, 7 yr old son, 5 yr old dautgher, and a 18 months old dautgher.  They are all very active and have their very own personality.  My 13 yr old has more attitude then any one person should, she loves to talk back, and more than once has gotten mad and said well I will just go live somewhere else.  But then she is also a wonderful help.  He younger sister love her to pieces and she helps a great deal with them.  My 11yr old is such a creative boy who always has an artpad and a pencil in his hand.  He is a very sentive boy and is easily hurt.  My 7 yr old son is he father made over.  He is a dare devil has no fear and will take on anyone no matter the size.  But he is my little love boy.  He loves to give his momma kisses.  My 5 yr old is daddy's princess.  She can melt daddy with one look.  She thinks that it is all about her.  Then my 18 month old is of the mind that she needs to be center of attention.  She is always being loved on so therefor when she isn't she lets you hear about it.  She is our other little princess. 
  So there they are.  Those are my kids.  I don't like to spank and only do it on rare occassions.  I am always looking for other creative ways to discipline my kids. 
  
  

  

  Proud wife of James and Blessed mother of Matthew, Darcy, Catlyn, Abigail, and Douglas

   

• 
• by
  • ewen13
  on Jun. 10, 2008 at 2:32 AM
• Hi! I am Emily. I have a 4.5 year old boy and a 2.5 year old girl and am expecting baby #3 in Nov. I feel like I am failing my children, esp. since my new addiction to CafeMom. I do not really know how to effectively discipline them. Time-outs do not work. I have resorted to spanking occasionally (mostly in the past) but I hate it and I know that it is not right. I also raise my voice way too much. I am really grateful for this group b/c I am looking forward to learning from you all.
  
  My boy is very sweet and sensitive but he can also be very whiny, esp. if I do not do what he wants right away. My DD is very independent and often plays by herself. She can also be very defiant and stubborn. We have just survived the terrorist 2's! She seems to be getting better but the last 4-5 months have been hell.
  
  There are so many things that I need to do better that I am bogged down and lose all motivation. I am tired from being preggo on top of it. And that is my sob story!

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