Hi Stephanie:

I have 2 very sassy boys myself ages 4 and 6.  We've had power struggles since the day they were born...I swear.  Something I try to do is be selective with what they are watching on tv.  So many shows have disrespectful children with parents they portray as being ignorant.  Also, be consistent with whatever form of discipline you use.  You may not think that time-outs work but it does, with some children they just don't want you to know that it is.  That happened with me.  Some kids can take a short time to get the point and others what feels like forever before they understand what is expected of them.  But respect of other people is a very important quality they have to get...no exceptions.  Perhaps something would work better like taking something away for a period of time such as a favorite toy, tv show, or dessert.  A book that helped me a lot that my kid's school implements is Magic 1-2-3.  It's so good.  If you get it, read it with your husband because you have to be united and on the same page as to what rules you expect to be obeyed and the consequences.  If you are not, it will fail. It makes the point that if one of you disagrees with the other one, do it in private and never in front of the child, we also have found this to undermine our authority and the child will use it to their advantage.  Kids are very clever.  Any way, I hope some of this helps.  Parenting is so hard, much harder than I thought it would be.  We have one shot to produce the kind of kids that will be a benefit to society, and we don't want to mess it up.  If you need to talk about it more or just vent, message or post it.