Where to start

Hey, welcome to my new blog. I hope this doesn't take up too much time, time I should be using on my projects instead of talking about them. I dream up projects for myself to take me away from the mundane. Don't be fooled, I'm not one of those Domestic Goddesses that has a spotless house, spends oodles of time playing with my children and on top of all that makes lots of wonderful items.... NO, I just dream about being like that.

I figure the one thing in that list that I detest the most is housework so that's the first area that lags behind. I do spend a fair bit of time with the kids though, taking them out and about, playing with them, drawing and I'm getting better at doing craft and cooking with my almost 4 yr old, Max. I've even started spending time with him on the computer doing ABC Reading Eggs. You see, a few weeks ago I was having lots of behavioural problems with him when I realised that he really just wanted more attention and to use his brain some more. He has gone through a big development spurt recently, learning to dress and undress himself, wanting to prepare food for himself etc. This is good, this means that there is less reliance on Mumma and maybe going off to preschool (the forbidden word in our house) is going to go smoothly. We don't talk about preschool because we sent him off to preschool when he turned 3 and he had major separation anxiety having never been in "care" before. He only went for 3 weeks but it has scarred him and whenever the "P" word is mentioned he's adamant that he's never going to go again. Daddy and I are hoping that come next year all that will be behind him and that he will actually have a great time at preschool. I'm sure part of the problem was lack of nurturing from the teachers at the preschool we originally sent him to. We are definitely not sending any of our kids there again, we have got our names down with a local council preschool and fingers crossed we will get a place in 2011. Anyway, since I have spent more one-on-one time with him things have improved on the behaviour front. It's not perfect but we're getting there.

Yesterday I did the first session in a program called 1-2-3 Magic! It's a parenting class on managing your childrens' behaviour. You see the "Naughty Mat" is wearing thin and I need to find a way to deal with naughty behaviour. There are 3 sessions all up, yesterday was mainly an overview of what's to come. I didn't get a great deal out of it yet, it really just told me stuff I already knew so I'm hoping the next 2 sessions will actually give me some useful tools. I'll let you know how I get on with it. On a positive note, the boys were looked after by a carer in the playroom at CatholicCare (where I am doing the course) and they actually had a great time. Two hours of playing and not even worrying about where I was. Max even said to me "I didn't cry for you Mummy". As a treat I let them have 'chippies and nuggets' (aka McDonalds) for lunch.

What strategies do you use for dealing with naughty behaviour/discipline - especially when they hurt others? Leave a comment, I'd be interested to see what works for other parents.