I have no idea if these things are normal - I've never had a three year old before 
However, my spirited three year old seems to have made it her personal mission to drive me mad, and I'm running out of coping skills and discipline ideas. I find myself yelling WAY more than I like, and I generally feel like a sucky mom.
In the last week, she's: hit her sister, pushed her sister down on the sidewalk, smushed chocolate cookies into the couch, dumped crackers and danced on them so they smushed into the floor, dumped (not spilled, dumped) at least 3 cups of milk, smeared hair conditioner all over the bathroom, written on the walls with pen, marker, and a glue stick, and tried to escape out the front door more times than I can count. Literally, if she's out of sight for more than a minute, she's causing destruction. She's on the go from the minute she wakes up until the minute she collapses, and if we try to slow her down she screams like a banshee.
I've tried keeping her busy, but I can't be with her every single minute - I have to use the bathroom, cook, etc. I haven't had a shower in far too long, as I can't trust that she won't tear the house down around my ears. I feel like I never...ever...get a break, and DH feels the same way.
We think there are some food sensitivities, so we're cutting out artificial colors and flavors - behavior improves when we do so, but she's still a trying child to be around.
Time outs don't work, yelling obviously doesn't work - I'm out of ideas and feel like I'm just at my wits end....
However, my spirited three year old seems to have made it her personal mission to drive me mad, and I'm running out of coping skills and discipline ideas. I find myself yelling WAY more than I like, and I generally feel like a sucky mom.In the last week, she's: hit her sister, pushed her sister down on the sidewalk, smushed chocolate cookies into the couch, dumped crackers and danced on them so they smushed into the floor, dumped (not spilled, dumped) at least 3 cups of milk, smeared hair conditioner all over the bathroom, written on the walls with pen, marker, and a glue stick, and tried to escape out the front door more times than I can count. Literally, if she's out of sight for more than a minute, she's causing destruction. She's on the go from the minute she wakes up until the minute she collapses, and if we try to slow her down she screams like a banshee.
I've tried keeping her busy, but I can't be with her every single minute - I have to use the bathroom, cook, etc. I haven't had a shower in far too long, as I can't trust that she won't tear the house down around my ears. I feel like I never...ever...get a break, and DH feels the same way.
We think there are some food sensitivities, so we're cutting out artificial colors and flavors - behavior improves when we do so, but she's still a trying child to be around.
Time outs don't work, yelling obviously doesn't work - I'm out of ideas and feel like I'm just at my wits end....
