Bad behavior and nothing seems to work

I have a 10,7, and 4 year old girls. They do see their father but he does not discipline at all. I am the one who has to do it all. My 7 year old got out chalk and wrote all over the refrigerator. My 4 year old wrote on the wall with a marker. I put them in time out or give them a spanking but it doesn't seem to do any good. They laugh or just look at me when I do. It does not do any good. I can't take a break from them and leave them alone because I don't know what they will do. They are really good kids but they just don't listen and don't learn from punishments like grounding or anything. I don't know what to do anymore.

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Bad behavior and nothing seems to work

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Take Everything Away
by: ShaRhonda

When nothing else seems to work, we take everything away (electronics, dessert, extra activities, etc.)
At one point, when our son was 4, we completely emptied his room. No toys at all. He learned very quickly that he had to behave to earn things back.
I completely understand!
by: Michelle

My 10 year old daughter hasn't listened to me for years! Her Dad and I are divorced and he does NO discipline either and leaves it all up to me. I tried the same things that you are doing and it didn't work. What has finally worked for me are 2 things. My daughter loves clothes but leaves them on the floor. I took away all but 7 outfits and she had to earn them back with good behavior. It helped but not as much as I would have liked. The second thing is grounding her to her room. She kept coming back out at first (repeatedly) but I just kept sending her back until she finally stayed in there. I know friends who set there child on the couch for as many minutes as their age for the little ones. Again this will most likely require putting her back there many times. When you do, don't speak to her, just quietly put her back there. That is the hardest thing for a Mom who wants to rip her own hair out, but it's necessary. You don't want to feed into the undesired behavior. I am no expert but I hope you have found some new ideas here anyway. Best of luck to you! :)

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