It is probably more the younger one that is stressing me out, I actually enjoy the time that I have with Eddie, as it is really the only time in the day that I sit down with just him. But Sam takes so long to go to sleep. When DH is home which is nearly all the time I try to organise for them to do things like a diary, drawing, snakes and ladders, which might last for a day or two, but then we are back to the wii, or movies (that I have tried to hide but to no avail, I have thrown them out but they got bought again!) so then when I do finally come out and say let's go to bed he is in the middle of a game, and we end up having an argument, and then I end up being the unreasonable one who doesn't let him finish. So I have been trying putting a time frame on, in 15 mins let's go to bed, but his selective deafness kicks in, and then he is snakey because he didn't get to finish, and is n't interested in stories, if I ignore or don't go in he stays up, and blah blah blah.......
I am partly to blame, but then I have spent the last 5 years trying to implement general rules, I would be the first to say that a strict routine is counter productive, and I get no where, or just for a day or 2, so when I shout and smack (I have done some soul searching tonight and have resolved that I am going to calmer - will check out the budhism stuff - but then I do that regularly, try different things, but end up at the same place, all roads lead to hyper active restless won't go to sleep kids) I am probably tranferring anger, I am really angry with myself and with DH. But then most people I know have issues where they and DH have very different view points, I could be being very arrogant for thinking that I am right, (but junk food in the morning, attempting discipline by depriving them of something only to have it handed straight back by the other one, MA rated movies, constant TV, wii and fighting games until just before bed... ) so I just need to find a middle road, I don't need a solution because there probably isn't one, but I think I really needed to offload because I am feeling better already, and hopeful that tomorrow will be better, although it could be groundhog day......
Thanks all !
Kate