My kids have no respect for anything.

[Jennifer13]

Sounds like they do need a good run outside to get rid of the hangover from being stuck inside for a few days - yay for the sunshine!!

When they're seriously driving you nuts, take them outside for a walk or go to the park or something, hun. If it's raining, stick them in warm clothes, gumboots and raincoats. They'll love it even more! I'm not a fan, especially in school holidays, but a trip to those indoor play centres sounds less stressful than constantly picking food out of the carpet. Give yourself a break and put your feet up. I'm sure you can tune the noise out! And leave the mess until you come back with them all worn out (and dare I suggest, stick them in front of Playschool for half an hour so that you can tidy up in peace).

You've worked with kids so I'm sure you know all the tricks, taking toys away if they damage them, etc, it sounds more like it's just a case of going a bit stir crazy and trying to make Mummy jump up and down.

Oh and for cleaning up, I'm going to use pre-school's tip, the teacher puts on a certain clean-up song and my goodness, the kids all race around trying to tidy before it finishes! DD is pretty good at tidying, but I've never seen anything like this effort with not even a word! The only reward is that it's singing time afterwards. I'm still in shock (not that DD gets rewarded for tidying at home, but YKWIM).