[blparent] behavior problems with our 4 year old

[Chris Reagan]

Good morning all:
We're having a serious behavior problem with our 4 year old child and 
we'd like to know if there's anything anyone can suggest on how to get 
this issue under control. We've tried just about everything we can 
think of to deal with this and It's almost like she doesn't care. I'll 
give some examples as to what she's done and what we've tried. She 
likes to take foodand dump it, we finally got the locks that will keep 
her out of the cabinets. She's taken the drawers out of her dresser. In 
response we've put locks on them which she got around. Here's something 
that I wrote for what happened this morning, and this is also a common 
occurrence.
Okay, so our child does something wrong, we put her in timeout. She 
doesn't stay still in timeout, so she is sent to her room for an hour. 
Mind you, that because of her behavior, we've taken all her toys away 
so her room isn't a very enjoyible place right now. So she opens the 
window and starts talking to people in general which we don't want her 
to do because of housing rules regarding the windows being open when 
the temps are below 50 and because we don't know who she's talking too. 
So I go in and close the window and she decides to get out of her room, 
run in to the living room and run from us and hide in plain sight. I 
catch her and put her back in. in the attempt to keep her in there for 
the time that we've set, she takes my phone runs to her bed with it, 
and tosses it behind her bed, thank god for outerbox cases. I normally 
don't spank, but that deserved a spanking and that's what she got. Now 
she's a very bright kid, very smart, does well in head start. She loves 
to draw and help people and we're happy to have her in our lives!. But, 
her behavior is getting to the point where she's wearing us down. Now, 
spanking is something we don't like to do and we don't enjoy it at all. 
Plus, I believe that it only causes more problems. We've taken away tv 
privoleges and I've also resorted to taking away her toys as I 
previously stated including the stuffed animals that she likes to sleep 
and play with. When we want to go somewhere, we can't, because her 
grandparents won't baby sit anymore because of her behavior, plus when 
we take her places, we insist she hold mommy and daddy's hand, but does 
she, no and she knows how to remove the leashes. So if there's anything 
that we've missed or haven't done to curve her behavior, please don't 
hesitate to speak up. We love her dearly and we only want the best for 
her in the end.
Take Care all:
Chris