Problem Children

[rabet]

Just watching the "Three-day Nanny" on Channel 4. Makes me realise how lucky I was with my two children, who were absolute angels compared to those you see on programmes like this. How were your experiences? Did you have problems with your kids; or were you handful yourself when you were young?

[ummmm]

Mine slept and ate well. My older two were a doddle really but I was in for a shock with my youngest. He was nice and cute and generally well behaved...but so so destructive.

I was a nightmare....a bit like my youngest :-D

[rabet]

I was definitely not a "nightmare". I was too terrified of my father to step out of line.

[sherrardk]

Mine are good kids - but we are consistent with them. Some aspects of having twins were a bit tricky when they were younger. I just thank my lucky stars that they haven't all decided to gang together - they could run riot!

[ummmm]

Rabet - I wasn't a naughty nightmare. Just a bit hyper with no sense of danger. The kind of child that would get peoples stomachs in their throats.

[Cloverjo]

Mine didn't sleep well until he was over 3 which made life difficult, but he was very well-behaved. He was never a problem as a teenager, either.
I see badly-behaved kids all the time. The parents just don't bother to correct them.

[rabet]

Interesting, Sherrardk; what were the tricky aspects of having twins?

[ummmm]

All of mine had a bad teenage year. It's like they woke up in a mood and that mood never changed, then about a year later they woke up in a good mood.

[DaisyNonna]

I was seen (occasionally) but not heard
My own two children were great

[rabet]

Yes, DaisyN, that was frequently quoted to me. "Children should be seen and not heard".

[sherrardk]

Rabet - I'm not sure exactly. It could be that you're dealing with the usual kids' stuff but there's two of them, or it could be that they were the youngest of five children (who are in close in age). Getting them to sleep was a nightmare as was breaking any habit (dummies, toilet training, walking safely by traffic).

[tinkerbell23]

Oh god i worry about this!!!! I have no kids but a youngish stepkid...

I was a fantastic child im told, but from age 12 to approx 21 my mum said she HATED me lol.....

Step-tinkerbell is brilliant though i must admit is becoming a tad spoiled - its hard to deal with not being real mum! Good manners but just not THAT bit good as i would like..... Mabye im turning into my mum!!!!

[rabet]

Sherrardk, that sounds rather difficult. My two boys are two years apart in age; I think any problems we had with the first we forestalled with the second. Oh, that sounds awfully clinical! It's Thomas and Richard.

[pastafreak]

Lil pasta was pretty good...slept OK,ate well. Was a bit wilfull as she got older. The worst came when we !moved down here. She was 15, and every thing started to go wrong...got in trouble,svengali "boyfriend", experimenting with illegal stuff. Never home....police looking for her and her mate. Lots of worry. Then something " clicked" and she turned a corner...realising her friends were no good. She's a lovely young woman now...still wilfull.
I was too good...never entered my head to misbehave or rebel. A boring child,really.;-)

[mikey4444]

I watched tonight's episode, and I think it isn't so so much whether the children are angels or not, but whether the parents are daft or not.

All that this Nanny does, as the Super Nanny did before her, is apply common sense. Not sure whey they have to go to a TV company to get that.

[rabet]

Pasta, "when we moved down here". Where did you move to and from? And why did that make a difference?

[ummmm]

Mikey - do you have children?

[rabet]

Mikey, I completely agree.

[sherrardk]

Mine have never been badly behaved, it's just that twins are hard work (one toddler is hard work) and my other children were so young at the time (there's seven years between them all), I think (with hindsight) that I was overwhelmed by it all :)

[rabet]

Well, Sherrardk, I think you are to be congratulated. But why five so young? Not judging, just interested. As I've said, I have two, never wanted more.

[pastafreak]

Rabet...we moved from Bedfordshire to Devon for her dads work. She was 15,and was totally against it. We we suddenly the worst parents...ever! She would speak about it...she blanked us for quite awhile. It was her GCSE year...she did OK...and proceeded to get arrested for shoplifting on the last day of school. It was downhill from there. Maybe she would have gone off the rails whether we moved or not...I don't know.