I was sitting here at work trying to read our book club selection, "The Persian Pickle Club, but I keep nodding off. Its an occuptional hazard. According to IHC, definately a no no. So, I decided I would blog! What can be more stimulating than that?
Is it me, or did summer sneak up out of nowhere? Was it the weather being cooler this Spring or time flying by like a fighter jet? Wow, here we are. Today was our first full day off of our summer vacation. The day started out great! I was in a great mood, as were the kids. We went to Liberty Park to play. The temperature was perfect! Then the crap hit the fan so to say. Nothing bad happened, except my children's behavior. One word, fighting. My only thought was, this could be a veeeeery long summer! My question is: Instead of punishements for fighting, what are good preemptive "strikes" to thwart the fighting? I want to nip it in the bud. I want them to love and respect eachother enough that they don't want to fight. Ha ha, I know, I know, wishful thinking. After all, I remember my brohers teasing me relentlessly. I remember throwing shoes or any other such item that might cause damage or at least pain. How did my mom put up with us? I think she would just lock herself in her room at that point. Any great advice for me? My house is too little to lock myself away where I can't hear. Besides, they make sure that I hear all about their injustices. Maybe I just need to ignore them when they complain about what the other one did to them. I have tried this, but its hard not to get involved.
However, I truly am excied for summer. I love having the freedom to do what we want. I'm excited for long days at the pool with friends, park picnics, barbeques in perfect evening weather, long bike rides with Scott, shooting hoops 'til we can't see, the snow shack, and of course, the races I've been training for. I hope everyone has a fun filled, terrific summer!
5 comments:
I think every set of siblings from the dawn of time have faught until their Mother's sanity was gone...it's probably somehow corruptively productive to maturation!
If you figure it out...publish it because you'll make buckets of money!
Hope you guys have a peaceful sumemr!
Definitely don't ask me! All I can say is...it gets worse. Although your kids may outgrow it more considering their sexes. My two boys? Oil and water!! This summer I have a plan. Tell them to work it out quietly. I don't want to hear about it unless it becomes deadly. If I do hear about it..(ie. them yelling in the basement, etc..) I have a list of "fighting jobs" which basically are all the grueling tasks that I don't even want to do. (ie. baseboards, wipe walls, hose down back porch, etc.) I have told them to "make sure whatever they are fighting about is worth the punishment." It really has worked in the past for me but my kids are older and can really have more self control when needed. I think the key is to not get involved. If they know mom will be the mediator they will always run to you over the silliest things. They need to learn how to compromise as soon as possible. Listen to me ramble..do I sound like an expert or what..oh how funny is that since this is my ABSOLUTE WORST THING IN LIFE THAT MY KIDS DO!!!!!
p.s. you could always try the ticket system that I did last summer. it really worked as well. assign them jobs each day that are worth a certain # number of tickets. Have them decorate a container and maybe put on it what they are working for (ie. a new petshop toy or something.) maybe make it something they can earn in like 2 weeks so te reward is fairly quick. Figure out how many tickets it takes to get that reward maybe depending on the cost, etc. However, everytime they fight without working it out themselves they get tickets taken away. it seems to me this might work well for your kids ages! just another idea. Read back through my blog entries and see how it worked for me but if i remember correctly it worked really well.
When you figure out the whole kid fighting thing, pass it on to me. I would love some advice as well. I like the idea of fighting chores. That just might work.
Happy summer - if it ever gets here!
if it gives you any hope...Kristen and I used to fight like cats and dogs growing up and now she is one of my best friends! One thing I do is NOT let my younger kids play with friends everyday....that gives them days where they HAVE to play with each other. Not that they always get along during that time, but it does help them to see that they can have fun together.
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