What's Working For You?

As most you know my family is currently working with a behavior specialist to reduce problem behaviors. Our biggest battle right now is with Renegade Doodle. His aggression is steadily getting worse, and he is seeking out others when he is angry, or upset. The cause of his anger does not change the outcome, it is always expressed with violence. Ideally we would like to avoid anger fueled tantrums / meltdowns, but they are occurring instantly after being denied a request. Giving him everything he requests ALL the time would worsen the situation, so I always provide alternative choices if what he is requesting is unavailable. Choices are not working with RD... he wants what he wants.

I spoke with his teacher this AM and she feels that timeouts will eventually be effective, however to follow thru with timeouts at home he has to be put in a highchair, otherwise time out is a game of cat and mouse. I don't have a problem w/ putting him in the high chair but I do have a problem with him hurting himself while in the chair. He bites the side of his hand along the bottom of his thumb and has started to draw blood. He is also pulling his hair, but so far no significant hair loss.

Mrs. Teacher and I are thinking about giving him silly putty or playdough while in the highchair, but these are both things he really enjoys and we don't want to reward the misbehavior, but would the silly putty and playdough be calming and help? This is where we are stumped... What do you mom's think? If he is in the chair and it calms him down and makes the timeout last only the 3minutes instead of him continuing to tantrum and it lasting 20 + min. The rule I was told to follow w/ timeout is you don't come out until your calm... regardless of length. For those of you who use timeout is that how you follow thru w/ it? If not what are your strategies?

Bedtime Routines

What are your routines at bedtime? What have you found that works best, and what hasn't worked for you?

Ugh....

Today has been exhausting and it's still not over for me yet! I am taking a small breather before sending the boys to bed. I had lots of extras today, There were 6 or more children in my house allday... we hit an all time high at 9 at 5:30 and well there are still 8!!! 3 are my Gang, 2 are Smarty Pants sisters from his dad's new marriage, and the other 3 are kids I sit for plus their older sister who normally isn't here. It's official I have lost all my marbles.. who in their right mind willingly lets 7 extra children into their home.. Okay so some of them are paying customers but still.. WTH? Well I must go for now, if you do not hear from me in a few days do not worry I am hiding under the bunk beds.. I'm sure there are enough sippys and animal crackers under there to keep me nourished for at least a week... LOL!