Whenever I stumble upon the show "Supernanny," I cringe at the thought of my children turning into monsters. They will never, I vow, be children who throw all-night tantrums, who kick and scream when I tell them "no."

Sadly my children are not perfect, as my "no, no, no" chants go on deaf ears, and I wonder who's the boss in this house. I'm quickly learning that disciplining even the best-behaved children is no small feat.

My kids are basically good. At least, that's what people tell me.

"Your children are so calm" is what I usually hear from surprised voices. I guess people think twins means "double trouble." Generally it does not, as my children play really well together and give each other spontaneous hugs every so often. My daughter loves to bring her brother his shoes, socks and sippy cup, which always makes him smile.

According to the grandparents and babysitter, the kids are perfect. When I walk in the door I always hear, "They were great." But when my husband comes home from a long day of work, I hear myself saying, "Ugh, they won't listen." "They did this or that." "They are all wound up."

Of course, when he watches them when I have to work or run errands, he doesn't make a single complaint about them.

"We had a great day," he generally says.

My children like to push my buttons. My "no" brings laughter and coy tilts of the head from my daughter, while my son simply says, "No, no, no." I love that they have personalities, but I also would love if they would listen.

So why are they picking on me?

Because I'm the mom, right? I spend most of my time with them so we play together and grow tired and hungry together. I'm here for the ups and downs, while grandparents and babysitters get small doses of just the good stuff.

But at times I feel that a mother of the year award is not going to adorn my wall anytime soon. I feel my patience slipping away and wonder if they are going through a phase or I need to come up with some new tricks to get them to cooperate. With a baby on the way and two toddlers who don't want to sleep through the night sometimes, I'm tired and overwhelmed. This is not an easy feeling for a person who likes to be on top of everything.

Is it even possible to discipline a toddler? How about two?

My pediatrician told me a few months ago to put a misbehaving child in his or her highchair for a minute per age. Time outs are supposed to work wonders. That is, until the twin who didn't cause the misdeed heads on over to entertain the timed-out one. I watch as my daughter tickles her brother's feet, making a game of my attempt to be a disciplinarian.

I try to be consistent and follow through, the way any super nanny would want me to.

"If you turn off the TV one more time, you're going in timeout." Off goes the TV with a giggle, and I scoop up the offender for the highchair. After her minute is up, where does she head? Back to the TV for another round of "I can turn this on, I can turn this off, I can turn this on..."

Time for time out again.

Remove the temptation, I have heard. We used to keep a gate in front of the TV, but that became an issue as the kids would sneak behind it and tumble over the gate. I keep the TV turned off throughout the majority of the day, because they have no interest in watching programs. But the set is still there with its enticing buttons and lights, calling their names.

It is a good tactic to eliminate the temptations instead of expecting young children to learn to avoid them. That has worked well with coasters that my children loved to bang, bang, bang on the coffee table. We have no coasters in view anymore. The doors they loved to open and shut, open and shut, now have handy door knob covers that they have yet to master.

Usually I try to offer a diversion. When a child heads for the TV, I say, "Bring me a book." I may offer a trip to the park or somewhere totally different. It works, but not all the time.

So am I just trying too hard? Has motherhood made me so bossy that no one even bothers to listen to the broken record anymore?

I can be found saying, "Do this." "Don't do that." "Watch this." "Give me that." "Where are you going?" "No, no, no."

But I have to be on top of everything at all times. I need to plan every meal of the day, including snacks, make sure the kids sleep, clean them, entertain them, break up fights, take photos when they are being cute (that one's for me), and it never ends.

And part of the built-in joy and challenge of raising twins is the monkey see-monkey do factor. "No hitting," I tell Wyatt as he takes a swipe at the dog. Just as he stops I see Bridget's hand heading for the dog's tail.

Maybe if I weren't so tired I'd be doing a better job at managing the two-child army. Or perhaps they are just going through a phase that involves testing Mommy's limits.

Either way, I am going to take a little step back and see if fewer "no's" lead to better listeners. They certainly know what "no" means, so maybe they just need a new word.

When my older brothers would pick on me as a kid, my mother told me, "If you ignore them, they will stop." I cannot exactly ignore two small children for safety reasons, but I can take away the reaction they are so excited to receive.

So it's time for no more "no's." I'm not sure what I'll say, but I have a funny feeling I have several years and countless episodes of Supernanny to perfect it.

Laura Lewis Brown is the mother of infant twins. Her column appears every other Thursday.