hi heather.
sorry its tough atm. little bit of advice - stop the empty threats. they dont work and it undermines the.real threats as then children are confused as to which is real and which is not.
my 2 are not twins (5&3), but i try to remain consistent and persistant. atm they are horrors lol. 5 yr old is really missing the routine of school and bored. lots of arguements and bickering fighting and downright naughtiness (from both). they refuse to help me tidy up their toys. and in the end it comes down to "if i do it on my own, i will bring the wheely bin in and tidy up that way" twice now they havent believed me and twice now theyve been really upset to see me bring the bin in and start throwing them away. they clean up a lot quicker than me when the bin is brought in. little do they know i only throw the broken toys away, but it gets my point across. yes its harsh but i never threaten anything unless i intend to follow through.
i have also tried reward charts and they work for the older.1 but its a.little too much for.the younger one. he cant understand the.concept of.collecting stars.for.7 sleeps (good behaviour) and then u get a reward. hes into instant gratification.
its a tough call. have the girls had any 1-2-1 with you since bubba was born? when 3 yr old was born i used to try and spend at least half an hour with older 1 a day, either colouring or playing cars together anything really reading books etc, just to get time.with him without the baby. i started this afyer 5 yr olds behaviour started to decline after baby was born. i figured maybe he was behaving like that cos at least he got attention then. so i tried to turn it into positive time and for a while it worked. exhausting when.BF as well. but it can be done.
sorry if i sound like im having a go. im not, but net doesnt do nuances or tone in voice or body language.
i really hope it calms down soon. motherhood toughest job in the world and you dont get a manual, but most rewarding for the most part.
i cut our holiday short by 1 day on our skeggy holiday. misbehaving all the time so i told them if they didnt start listening and behaving, we would go home home. they carried on so i packed all our stuff cleaned the caravan and we left at 10pm, got home.for 1 am!
always follow through :-D
good luck, i hope this phase doesnt last for.too long
jade xxxx