May people have suggested this, but you need to lock your bedroom door. There is no reason this can't be your own personal space. The best present my older brother and I ever got was locks for our bedroom doors when our little brother was a holy terror. Maintaining your own little sanctuary might go a long way toward easing your stress level.
Take the blankets and pillows off the kids' beds. Put the pilows in your room until bedtime; strip the beds and let them sleep in sleeping bags (which shake out more easily than sheets and blankets.
For the whining: try to stay calm! First try to acknowledge his feelings ("You look like you're cold", "I can see your food steaming - it must be hot!"). How would he respond if you said "What do you think we can do to fix this?" Ask him if he wants to be warm, and how he can get that way. Ask him how he can cool off his food. I tried, whenver possible, to use humorous suggestions, such as putting his plate in the oven to cool it off (hopefully he'll say "No, Mommy - blow on it! Or put it in the fridge!").
One of our sons went through a phase at that age with his hands in his pants. We went on vacation, and watched closely to make sure we could see both hands before we snapped photos. When we got home we saw that his twin brother had his hands in his pants for half the pictures! He started doing it on the trip, and we were so focused on his brother that we missed it! They both outgrew it. Same with fingers up the nose. Let's face it - these are enjoyable activities, and there isn't a lot of reason for a kid to want to stop. We found that allowing the behaviors some of the time (not trying to get them to stop cold turkey, just not in public) helped a lot.
I don't have any ideas for the clothes thing - sorry.
Take the blankets and pillows off the kids' beds. Put the pilows in your room until bedtime; strip the beds and let them sleep in sleeping bags (which shake out more easily than sheets and blankets.
For the whining: try to stay calm! First try to acknowledge his feelings ("You look like you're cold", "I can see your food steaming - it must be hot!"). How would he respond if you said "What do you think we can do to fix this?" Ask him if he wants to be warm, and how he can get that way. Ask him how he can cool off his food. I tried, whenver possible, to use humorous suggestions, such as putting his plate in the oven to cool it off (hopefully he'll say "No, Mommy - blow on it! Or put it in the fridge!").
One of our sons went through a phase at that age with his hands in his pants. We went on vacation, and watched closely to make sure we could see both hands before we snapped photos. When we got home we saw that his twin brother had his hands in his pants for half the pictures! He started doing it on the trip, and we were so focused on his brother that we missed it! They both outgrew it. Same with fingers up the nose. Let's face it - these are enjoyable activities, and there isn't a lot of reason for a kid to want to stop. We found that allowing the behaviors some of the time (not trying to get them to stop cold turkey, just not in public) helped a lot.
I don't have any ideas for the clothes thing - sorry.
