As u all know, in this day and age, its hard to be a stay at home mom like so many of our moms were. I have always dreamed that I would be able to do this too, but we cant afford it. In order to meet halfway, I have been taking in 2 children a day/3-4 days a week for some extra income. So on a typical day i have my 4 year old daughter, my almost 2 year old daughter and 2 other little boys between 20-28months. My younger daughter has no problem with this as she was 5 months old when i started doing this and these kids are like her siblings-she wakes up asking for them! My 4 year old was just over 2 when my younger daughter was born and then 2 1/2 when i started doing childcare. She does not like it. She usually starts off fine in the morning and by late morning is already pushing the buttons of the little ones to the point where they are crying. When lunchtime hits and the kids go to nap, she and I getr some much needed one on one and do crafts, read books, watch movies, bake etc. Within moments of the kids waking up, she is back to her old habits again. What can I do to keep her from acting like this towards the kids? I feel so guilty that I cant have the time with just her and her sister all the time. I feel like its my fault because she is great when the other kids arent here. They are very good kids too, so its not like they are provoking her. I have a hard time keeping her in time out as well for her behavior because I have to stand guard over her to make her stay, but then there is no one watching the three 2 yr olds who need my supervision. She senses that and as soon as i have to go to another child, she is out of her time out and bugging another kid. How can I get her to understand that she needs to stay in her timeout? What am I doing wrong? She seems to be the worst around 3-5pm where she will just randomly scream or hit. I feel like her brain cant handle all the extra activity going on, like she has had too much and she needs to vent somehow. How can I keep her calm? She is very smart, probably too smart for her own good, so there is no way I can trick her into anything. Any suggestions on how to better my parenting towards her? I feel like my job is causing her anxiety and I feel so guilty for it. She probably senses that and its part of the problem, but i still need help!!