2nd day of holiday and already pulling hair out

[appleandplum]

Its the second day of the holiday and kids are driving me insane already. I have 6 yo, twin 5yo, & 3 yo, when all together they conspire against me to mess the house up, they have pinched money from eldest money box and i don't know whether to believe if they have or not, one drew all over others jumper with felt tip pen (non washable ),they laugh at me when i try to tell them off. I end up screaming at them as they just do not listen. I have tried lots of calm ways of telling them but as i am so outnumbered the mass of them seems to win over and they don't listen. On their own they are good and always good for other people at school etc so i feel like its me!
Sorry needed to rant

I think you're doing amazingly to be managing at all with 4 young children!

My only advice would be to plan each day and try and get out of the house as much as possible. Are there any activities for half term that you could do? Maybe something organised that you could leave the 6 yr old at for the day (or half day) so that you can do things with the others?

I think you're doing amazingly to be managing at all with 4 young children!

My only advice would be to plan each day and try and get out of the house as much as possible. Are there any activities for half term that you could do? Maybe something organised that you could leave the 6 yr old at for the day (or half day) so that you can do things with the others?

Messing the house up? Drawing on clothes? I would tell your DCs as calmly as possible it is unacceptable and if he/she does it again there will be consequences, such as no TV, no pudding or a toy taken away.

Most kids are competitive, have you tried each having a sticker chart with a dozen stickers? Then a simple treat for keeping say six by bedtime (story, 1:1 time, etc) and a sanction (eg losing box of lego next day) if they get to zero stickers?

Like CultureSucks I found some kind of outdoors activity whatever the weather helped.

If 75% of their behaviour is for attention and most of the attention you give them is discipline, they'll play up all the more. If you act over the top pleased and grateful when they do co-operate they'll get positive attention and act accordingly.

Btw smiling when getting a telling off or laughing at Mum trying to be stern isn't always cheek, it can often be a defence mechanism, they try to deflect or even try and make you happy. They're quite possibly taking it all seriously but it tends to wind us up and make the situation implode.

Increase the punishment each time the same situation occurs, but do it moderately. It will eventually sink in.

Thanks CultureSucks and DonkeysDont, i like the idea of removing stickers from chart as it is something which can be done instantly. I also think if the day starts off bad and shouty it can be hard to get out of it so i need to try the positive sttention, i'm feeling much calmer (now they're in bed!).