So I may have stumbled on something brilliant... if it works out. Last week was an absolute nightmare in this house. Kids screaming at each other, kids screaming at DH, kids screaming that they were going to call BM so she would take him back to court, kids getting punished... I literally was getting chest pains and loss of appetite from all the stress. It was getting ridiculous.

This morning, at some ungodly hour, I got an idea from something I heard from a friend. A contract. He said he had his kids, and foster kids, sign a sort of 'behavior contract', outlining what behaviors were acceptable and what weren't. If they willingly signed it and broke the contract, he could bring it out and remind them nicely.

In short, I decided to do that this morning. I picked a few key things I felt each kid needed to work on, then read it to them, and asked if it was something they agreed to. Surprisingly, each one of them agreed and signed it! This entire morning has been almost unreal in how chill it has been! No attitudes, no screaming, no pissy calls to BM about anything, no pissy calls to DH at work about anything... it's been SO nice.

Just putting it out there as a thing I'm trying - I really hope if I continue to address attitudes and issues BEFORE they even come up, that we can keep going with this.