That's it really. She is just soo harsh/over the top in everything she does. She slaps them on the face if they misbehave. If they dont poo every single day (4 years old, so accidents obv. can and do happen) she then bans all TV. Her family met mine in the park yesterday. Her boys are the same age as mine 2 and 4. Both are rough children, the youngest esp. thinks nothing of smacking and punching other chilren. She overlooks this to punish the older, calmer one for doing smaller misbehaviors. Anyhow, she then told me that she was thinking of locking the older one in the guest room with no toys all day, as punishment for waking her at 5am twice in a row. She was shattered, and he was tired and whiney. I tried to question the proportionality of the punishment with the'crime' as gently as I could. She wasnt listening. It is really begining to bother me how she treats them. Smacking isnt illegal here (not in UK) and she has clear parental issues with her own mother who rejected her, but still,how do I react when I hear this? It's the hardest part, i think, of being a parent. And I nor my kids are in no way perfect either.