MY TWINKIES ARE INTO EVERYTHING HELP!

Hi to all,
I am in desperate need of some suggestions. My almost 3 year old twins are driving me crazy. They are into everything. Unless we are closed off in the playroom they are running around my house, pulling things out of cupboards, knocking over pictures, and just plain being mischevious. I am at my wits end. They no longer will sit in their pack and play and watch a movie while I make dinner or pick up a few things-they climb out, run around the house, and don't listen at all. I feel like I yell all the time and am turning into psycho mommy. It was so bad last week I downloaded a Supernanny application-please help!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My boys are the same way- they are now 28 months.
We still have a gate from the living/dining room into the kitchen because I just can't trust them in there for even a minute, even though it's so childproofed they can still get past everything! We have childlocks on our UPPER kitchen cabinets, for crying out loud! My boys are climbers.
Aside from the toys, our house looks like a hotel, very sparse and everything bolted down.
And I also yell way more than I ever would. I have been trying to work on being more positive when they do things they should be doing, so that when they don't get that positive reinforcement it makes a difference. I am also trying to let things go more- not freak out if they are doing something exploratory but still safe. That's really hard for me, I love to be in control!
I think this is just the age and the phase. Hang in there and remember you are doing your best and that's all anyone can ask!

 

My girls are younger, but same here. The downstairs level (family room, playroom) of our house is totally babyproofed and they have free reign there. But if we are upstairs on the main level (it's a rancher house), they pull books off the shelves, open drawers, get on the sofa and jump off, run wild in our bedroom, etc. We try to herd them downstairs as fast as possible. Honestly, if it wasn't for DH cooking dinner, I don't know how I would ever feed them a normal dinner. When he is out of town, I cook dinner at naptime and reheat or give them something really quick to make.

 

I don't have any advice but I feel a whole lot better about my monkeys! I made the mistake of complaining to a friend with a singleton and her response made me feel like I'm a total dunce for not having them on a tighter leash. I was angry and said more than I should have about how it works when you have two toddlers tag-teaming you; playing off of each other and competing for negative attention the same way they compete for positive attention.

I don't care so much about them dragging everything out of the kitchen cabinets (I let them have access to the Rubbermaid containers and a few plastic partyware items). I've trained them to put stuff away and they do a decent job helping with their messes. BUT, the climbing is going to be the end of me. My dad keeps telling me, "You know, they COULD get over the gate if they really wanted to" and I just dread that day because the rest of the house is so not ready for full access. Their new game is to get up on the kitchen table and swing from the chandelier. Yes, seriously. I freaked out on them and they didn't do it for a day. Now they're back to it as soon as they have half a second. I redirect, I punish (we're working on timeouts but so far they just think it's funny), and I try not to lose my mind.

So, I guess I have at least another year of this to look forward to?

 

My boys have been into EVERYTHING (also climbers) so much that I could teach a graduate level course in childproofing.

Not to make light of Debid's situation, but I seriously appreciate all her posts when i feel my monkeys are into more than I can handle. It's nice to know someone else is out there with similar challenges. It reminds me to have a sense of humor about the situation. Somehow it's funnier when I see someone else's kids are swiffering the walls during nap time (I think that was debid), than when my own kids are pooping in every corner of the house for entertainment and continuously outsmarting my childproofing endeavours.


QUOTE(debid @ Aug 15 2007, 08:08 PM) [snapback]369798[/snapback]
Their new game is to get up on the kitchen table and swing from the chandelier. Yes, seriously. I freaked out on them and they didn't do it for a day. Now they're back to it as soon as they have half a second. I redirect, I punish (we're working on timeouts but so far they just think it's funny), and I try not to lose my mind.

So, I guess I have at least another year of this to look forward to?

 

My boys are the exact same way. They get into everything they shouldn't. My biggest pet peeve is being in the kitchen while I'm trying to get a meal ready. My kitchen isn't small but not huge either. I can't stand it. Tripping on one of them, turning around and bumping into them. Drives me nuts. As for getting into things they do all that. Except the pictures things. I don't have any decor anywhere but on the wall. I can't have anything sitting around or they would have it broke. Oh the woes of having all boys. They'll grow out of it i'm sure but till then I sure could use a padded room.

 

It's just that age. They're discovering everything and love the newfound freedom. Especially since they figured out how to get out of that pnp. We had a gate at the door to the playroom (I took this down sometimes), magnetic locks on all the kitchen cabinets, a gate from the living room to the hallway, a gate from the living room to the study, and our Superyard cordoning off the kitchen. As long as the gates were up, there wasn't really anything the girls could get to that they could hurt themselves with. They had access to the Tupperware cabinet and toys and that's about it even though they pretty much had run of the living room, playroom, and their room. Good luck!

 

OMG!! I could write your post and my twins are only 15 months!! It's actually not so bad with my soon to be 3 year old...but the twins - forget about it!! They (Gabe) has figured out how to climb over the fencing so that doesn't help. He climbes up everything (bookshelves, dressers etc). He's figured out how to get into our little fishtank, he is obsessed with turning the A/C on and off! He drives me NUTS! He loves to climb up the fence and onto the TV stand. He sits there hitting the flat screen plasma TV (makes DH so mad!!). They are wild.

I have no advice, just wanted you to know that you were not alone. ((hugs))