I've been working with animals for a very long time. Maybe one of these ideas will work for you: 1. Uncrinkled sheet of heavy aluminum foil - cats hate the sound 2. Upside-down mouse traps under a little newspaper or tea towel is best, but not necessary. They fly into the air & scare the crap out of the cat. UPSIDE-DOWN ONLY for obvious reasons. 3. Carpet tack strips - nasty points aren't nice to step on 4. Ssscat brand spray head goes on canned air & uses infrared sensor to spray air when cat is near - sound alone works, but for stubborn cats, you can point it at them. 5. Set a shallow dish or lids of water on soil surface - cats hate wet feet. Add rubbing alcohol for unpleasant odor and sensation in eyes & nose. 6. Rolled up balls of masking or duct tape - even more annoying to have stuck to them than just double-stick tape. Tape balls stick and follow them around. Only trouble is the cat might pee somewhere else in its panic to remove attacking tape balls. 7. Bamboo skewers or dowels stuck into soil to form a fence, or stuck at all different angles so they're very uncomfortable to squat or walk in. Bag of 100 for $2 in Walmart kitchen isle 8. Scat Mat gives static-like shock - from Foster & Smith or any online pet store, maybe even PetSmart. 9. Infrared-triggered noise maker. Some are sold for this, but one of those cheap infrared doorbells or buzzers from Amazon that little shops use instead of a bell on the door will only cost $5-$10 & is good enough for most cats. Will also alert you to bad behavior so you can squirt kitty if noise doesn't do the trick. Soak some corn starch in Bitter Apple, Bitter Lime, Fooey (best) or other bitter product. Let dry. INSIDE A SEALED BAG, break it back into powder. Put 1/4" corn starch on soil surface & top with thin layer of horrible, bitter powder. When cat disturbs powder, bitterness gets in mouth & nose & (s)he will never go back. Save this as absolute last resort because it is unspeakably horrible. It works, but you can't avoid enjoying a bit of it yourself while making and cleaning it up, and when the cat disturbs it and later tracks it around the house. Every now & then some tiny bit will waft up from somewhere and you'll be gagging and spitting for half an hour. Your cat might also not want to bathe itself when it gets the horrible, bitter crap in its fur. Trust me, every other option is better than this one. For details, more help, or more ideas, email me through the site.

What do the instructions of your recipe say? I have made plain jelly rolls (not chocolate), but all the recipes I have ever seen tell you to roll the sponge cake (without any filling), while still fairly warm, with a smooth weave kitchen towel (sprinkled with confectioners' sugar, or in the case of chocolate...cocoa). When cooled off, *very carefully* unroll and put in filling. This is a fairly delicate proceedure, so unroll with an easy, and delicate touch! After filling is spread in, very carefully reroll. Think rolling in kitchen towel while fairly warm is the key! Don't know if my suggestion will be of any help, but it is worth a try.

This is gonna sound silly but the dog has a true case of claustrophobia. Sounds crazy, but Japanese Chin was this way. If she got locked in anywhere she would s*$# herself. I've kennel trained dogs, and my little Chin was pretty much treated like a big dog with the rest of my big dogs (you know, each around 100 lbs. She was 9 lbs when wet.) Another potential problem, his kennel is not being respected by 'young' family members. All dogs need a place to retreat and the kennel training should be reinforced that way. Even as far as keeping a sheet over it that covers the top and two sides to give it a den feel. Make sure young family members respect the space to ensure doggie feels secure and will use it naturally instead of feeling stressed from being locked in. Another potential problem is instead of a open bowl of water have a water bottle. Also put up water bowl 45 mins. prior to kenneling to help with bladder control. If all else fails consult a vet. Sometimes, wetting the bed is a sign of serious underlying issue

I agree with almost all of what has been written above. YOU need to fix it NOW. You're 3.9 years overdue, plus your girls are at a particularly nasty age. It'll be ten times as hard now as it would have been 4 years ago. Sit them both down in a place with no distractions and lay down the law. I'd try it with both together, but if that won't work, divide and conquer. Maybe talk to them in the car at the side of the road or in a parking lot (stomping distance from home?) -- whatever it takes to get them to listen. Keep your rules simple and short, and set the bar realistically low. In other words, they are not required to be nice, but are absolutely required to be civil. Dinner will be eaten together at the family table, and anyone who doesn't want to eat, doesn't eat. (Period. Get a cheap plastic locker and padlock if needed.) All questions will be answered in a polite manner. (Ask Hubby to keep them minimal at first.) Make a written list of your rules and post them on the wall. Also pre-determine consequences for breaking the rules -- loss of computer, phone, gaming, TV, iPod, piano, activities -- and FOLLOW THROUGH. Make your punishments short but severe. Since their behavior has become habitual, maybe come up with a 'warning' signal you can give them so that they can turn it around before losing a privilege. Now on the BioDad. He needs to understand that by encouraging them to behave that way, he is turning his children into little monsters. They are already disrespecting you; it won't be long before they turn their disrespect on HIM. And on anyone else who displeases them -- teachers, friends, coworkers and bosses. He is doing them NO FAVOR and actually causing them quite a bit of damage. You may want to gather some hard evidence of Dad's support before launching your 'fix' campaign. Why? Because I'm guessing YOU will not be able to change Dad's mind, no matter how persuasive your speech, because a Dad who does that isn't thinking clearly. But try to persuade him. Give him a chance and ask for his help in turning the girls' behavior around. Maybe write him an email? Several? And if he refuses, drag his butt into court because a judge will straighten him out pretty quick. Family court judges see this kind of thing a lot and have very little tolerance for this kind of carp. Maybe ask for court-ordered counselling and compliance monitoring? Or ask that if Dad won't comply, that he lose unsupervised contact with the girls? Frankly, I'm surprised your husband has put up with this as long as he has.