Eureka!!!

So round about 5 pm the boys morph into crazed little wrestling monsters. They are always too rough, someone gets hurt, and then there is yelling involved (from me). Telling them to stop hasn't helped. Doesn't matter if they are or are not watching TV-and we are talking PBS, Dora, or Go Deigo, Go, relativity good TV.  The last 2 nights I have imposed "homework". I have required both boys to come into the "den" (I need a good name for this new room. It was a family room, but we moved the TV out and the computer in, and purchased a new 2 person desk. It is also open to the kitchen. But I digress...) I have given them each some theraputty to work with where the 3 year old has the easiest one and the 6 year old gets one of the harder ones (not black-blue or green). I have hidden some beads or beans in each that they get to find (and work on small motor strength) and then they do paper pencil things. The big one works with his Handwriting Without Tears book and the small one does things out of my preschool teacher books. They LOVE it, and they are much calmer when they are done. Sometimes I can cook/clean the kitchen while they are working, sometimes I can't. But it's a short time to use to get them calm. So, this will now be standard practice...and I hope to keep my sanity through the "witching hours" of 4:30-6:30....