Fuck it. I'm just gonna wait in the hallway and then run and hip check their little asses back into their rooms when they try to sneak out.

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There ya go - hockey as discipline. When they whine about it, blame Spacek for showing you proper hip-checking form

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mechaphil

I'm so gonna get a striped shirt and whistle. Turn the corner of my den into a penalty box.

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ok, what about the if you wanna stay up.... fine than we will stay up all night... no sleeping at all... and make them do chores while up, i know good luck getting kids to clean and such... now, granted, thats gonna kill you the next day... but will it kill them enough to learn the lesson of a proper nights sleep... its like the smoking punishment my grandfather crushed my dad with.... caught him smoking... ok fine, you wanna smoke, smoke the whole pack... of course that didn't impact my grandfather like you staying up all night...

but again, i should just bow out of this one...lol... go with hall monitor...

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There is no way I'm gonna stay up ll night with the kids then have to deal with not only being dead the next day but being dead with two cranky kids and a baby who needs attention. That just sounds horrible.

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I'd say it's as simple as more exercise, I'm guessing finding the time for an hour a day of something vigorous will normalize their sleep.

Granted, I'm forming this advice from what I've learned raising a crazily rambunctious Pit Bull, which I realize does not have many parallels with raising kids, but I'd bet energy management is definitely one of them.

There was this kid I used to babysit who was really, really hyper. I was babysitting him one afternoon and I told him there was a troll but if he stayed in bed the troll wouldn't get him...eventually he laid in bed and fell asleep. When his mom came home she was floored that he was asleep in the middle of the day. She was like, "He's asleep?? Is he okay? He's not sick or anything?"

Yeah...not the best thing to do to a 4-year-old, but it worked.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

You'd be surprised how similar kids and dogs are. he difference is that my dog listens...and is cleaner.

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Do they nap during the day? Maybe it's time to eliminate those.

No, they only nap a couple times a week. I have them outside right now doing lawn work..hahahaha!

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see, as an avid hide and seeker myself, id LOVE this. i would hide and jump out at em.

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Really, your best weapon is going to be consistency. If they disobey your rule that they must stay in their rooms (or beds), then there must be consequences. You said you've tried taking stuff away. How did they get it back? Did they earn it back? If it hasn't worked, you need to up the ante. What's the one thing they would hate to do without? Take their beds away and make them sleep on the floor if you have to. It's not the sneaking that is the worst transgression, it's the disobedience.

It may turn into a battle. But as a parent you need to discern which battles are worth fighting, and which are not. If you need that down time, then this is one you need to stick to your guns. But don't let resistance make you cave. You may have to sacrifice with a little pain now to make things smooth in the future.

Ham

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Do you believe yet?

now that is clearly better than anything i could have even come close to coming up! Nice job Hammy.... kinda reminds me of how my dad punished me when i didn't do the dishes when he asked me to... he put all the dirty dishes in a box, put the box in my bed and i had to sleep with the dirty dishes... and of course clean them in the morning.... I like the out of the box thinking...

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Thanks Ham. The funny thing is my consistency is exactly why I'm so tired right now. I think just like you do when it comes to always having consequences and following them through. It has just been recently that the kids have gotten me run down. The wife is taking a class four nights a week to study for med school which leaves me here with them 15 hours a day and with the new baby on board now I'm just bushed. The reason I posted is because when you get bogged down in the swamp that is kids you have to kind of find your way back out so you don't end up being inconsistent or too much of a dick. I think they finally caught on that dad is at the end of his patience. They're in bed right now and not moving...haha!

Generally my kids are well behaved and listen to me without too many problems but I think they kind of smelled the blood in the water this past week or so and started taking advantage of a tired dad. Full time student, full time daddy and three galleries barking for more art....I need a fucking vacation....haha!

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Electric door knob.

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Wheelhouse

Glue could work just as well.

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"Call a cop he robbed Delmore blind!!!"
Rick Jeanerette after Marty Biron's diving save back in 2000.

"I'm going to go to the spa and have a hot tub and massage and relax," Miller said. "That's it, and it's back to work tomorrow." Ryan Miller after clinching the North East division.

Buy a scary costume and wait outside their door. When they come out, scare the living hell out of them and say "GO TO SLEEP!"

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.