The trick to keeping your kids in order is to work out how much, and when, they need to sleep.
I’ve found this with Will and Alex, but Will especially, because he tells me what the deal is… when he’s tired, when he’s tired, when he’s hungry and so on. And he’s such a good kid when he’s had enough sleep… and too often he’s a total demon when he’s really tired…
But it doesn’t seem so bad when you understand that is *why* he’s been such a little #$%#. If you know he’s really tired, you understand his behaviour. Of course, I still want it to stop…! We work to change his attitude even at that point, but at least you understand.
As it happens, a lot of Will’s problem right now comes from him not telling us what he needs. I don’t know if it’s that he doesn’t know either, or he’s trying to be so self-sufficient it’s crazy, but he needs to tell us more when he has to go to the toilet, or needs a sleep, or other things like that. He can do much of what’s required now, sometimes with help, but he needs to tell us more.
We have a lot of parenting challenges, more than most, but things are going pretty well, really. And the more time I allow myself to focus on my family, the better things are.