Because this is what you'd hear if you came to my house any time soon....
HOLD YOUR FIRE!!!! STOP SCREAMING!!!!! BE KIND!!!!! DON'T HIT!!!! LET'S JUST ALL RELAX!!!! DON'T THROW THAT AT HIS/HER HEAD!!!!! BE NICE!!!! WILLIAM GET OFF OF JULIANNA!!!! DON'T WHINE!!!!! STOP TALKING AT THE SAME TIME!!! DON'T ARGUE!!! JULIANNA GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF WILLIAM!!! IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER WHO SAID IT FIRST!!!! PLEASE CALM DOWN!!! BOTH OF YOU NEED TO STOP TOUCHING EACH OTHER!!!! .... etc .... etc .... etc...
So........... tell me....... how do I create kindness and friendship between these 2 little loud children of mine?? Everyone is always asking how I'm handling a newborn - and I say, it's NOTHING compared to having a 2 year old and a 3 year old in the house....
William is sensitive and stubborn - Julianna is sassy and stubborn. Neither one wants to back down, and neither one has truly learned the lesson of sharing and being kind...
They have argued about:
who is going to pray first
who is going to say Amen the RIGHT way!! (yes this one happens a lot!!)
who is singing when music is playing (yes they can do this at the same time)
who is going to sit in the blue chair
who is going to sit in the red chair
who is going to sit in the rocking chair
who is going to give daddy his boots (again, can do this at the same time)
who is going to watch mommy change Luke's diaper (yup... could do it together)
who is going to brush their teeth (we DO have more than 2 toothbrush)
who is going to sit in the corner of the green coach (yes there are 2 corners)
who is going to open the back door
who is going to let Dublin in the house
who is going to hug Ali first when she gets home from school
who is going to get the mail out of the mailbox
who is going to hold the costco card when we go shopping
who is going to buckle themselves up first in the car
who is going to turn on the tv
who is going to turn off the tv
who is going to get water first
who is going to clean it up when it spills
who is going to hug daddy first when he walks in the door
who is going to say hello to Ian first when he gets home
who is going to give mommy the last kiss
who is going to dance when there is music playing
who is going to touch each other last
who is going to sit in the front of the imaginary train
who is going to talk on the phone when someone calls
who is going to answer the phone when someone calls
........... I could go on for hours!!!!
4 comments:
Sarah,
It is so good to know that I'm not the only one who goes through this EACH and EVERY day. Some days I feel like I have the most badly behaved kids in the world. And I don't even have a newborn yet! I feel for you! Isn't motherhood grand?!?
Uuummm, all I can say is... that sounds an awful lot like Nathan and me when we were kids. Good luck! Your going to need it! We like eachother now :)
Oh, it sounds just like our house and we don't have the closeness of age. Aaron is Ali's age and Ryan is William's. But, they go at it just the same. I just let them figure it out most of the time. But, rest assured, you are not alone. I'm sure it's just a sibling process...still, your sharing it in this way makes me giggle and find the humor in it. Thanks.
I feel your pain. Josiah and David get into arguments about the silliest things...just like your list. I thought maybe it was because they're both competitive boys, but now I see it happens with a girl, too. :)
The easy-to-read book Siblings Without Rivalry has helped me to have some "tools in my toolbox" to handle these situations. But the most helpful thing for me is to simply remember that this too shall pass. It's so important that I keep training them in how to work things out, shepherding their hearts and pointing them to Jesus as their example, disciplining them as needed. But it's such a long process that I never see instant results. I've been reminded recently though that after a million repetitions of my instructions (give or take a few!), they finally start to get it and show the fruit.
Don't give up...one of these days they'll stop fighting about little issues, and you'll realize that suddenly the house is a more peaceful place. Just do the best you can (and give yourself grace because my goodness, you have a full load yourself!), and trust that even though you don't see the fruit immediately, the seeds will produce a harvest in time.
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