Skip to main content

Reality Check

 I felt I should waste no time following up my "How They Play" post with a "How They Fight" entry, lest anyone thinks it's all rainbows and butterflies over here.  Rainbows and butterflies are for liars...and hippies.  

The boys are great at finding creative ways to play.  This is also true for fighting.  Anyone who scoffs at the "boys will be boys" line, has clearly never tried parenting brothers.  Although, sisters are pretty physically aggressive in their own right.  Case in point, we had to transition the twins from baby jail yesterday to baby jail cells.  Too much fighting and to be more specific, biting, was taking place.  


I don't think the boys have ever bitten each other, but pretty much anything else you can think of and probably a few things you can't, have taken place and we are only a couple of years in.  We don't condone or encourage them to physically hurt one another, and they most definitely do receive consequences for fighting, but.... But every once in a while, I'm kind of secretly cheering for the aggressor.  Don't shame me.  I do it well enough myself.  

Just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about here are a couple of recent scenarios:

 In the back of the car the big guy was harassing his little brother to no end.  It went on and on until Fischer had finally had enough.  His retribution was to turn his water bottle upside down on his big brother's lap.  And nothing I could have done or said would have gotten such perfect results as that maneuver.  His brother was shocked and speechless...until he started crying, but the harassing came to a very abrupt end.

On another occasion, Sawyer was taking the full abuse of Fischer's anger.  He did the right thing and just turned his back to him while Fischer pummeled him with his fists.  Finally, he had enough, and gave Fischer one solid whack back (they now call it a whacker backer), and a stunned Fisch learned to leave his brother alone...at least for a while.  

If it was me, it would take days for my anger to subside.  But these guys are usually back to playing together before I'm done doling out punishments.  In fact, I'm usually far more upset with them at their fighting than they are with each other.  

And that, my friends, is our reality.  Play hard, fight hard, repeat.  

And apologize to the neighbors because whatever we are doing, we are doing it loud.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Little Bit Dicey

 This might be a little controversial.  I try to steer clear of such topics in this space, but it needs to be said.  Take it as you will, but know that it comes from a place of love, concern, and respect.  Here it is: there is a right  way to cut an onion. Now, I'm not saying this to try and get anyone's dander up.  I'm just saying it's a subject that needs to be addressed in kitchens across America.  There may be more than one right way to skin a cat (I can't say I've tested that), but the same does not hold true for onions.  Please, you can teach an old dog new tricks - learn how to properly cut an onion.  It will save you time, frustration, onion tears, and possibly a finger.     Now, since I'm still sitting here on blogspot like it's 2003, I'm not going to post any how-to videos, but I'll do the next best thing.  I'll paste a link right here .    Check it out.  Practice it.  Make it a habit.  T...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Tame a Toddler (and other myths in parenting)

I used to think I had started to hone my parenting skills.  Fischer was a much more mellow toddler than Sawyer, and I credited Ross and myself having the experience of one child under our belts.  It turns out, I was wrong.  Fischer was just a more mellow toddler .  That, or we have substantially regressed in our skills since having the twins.  It could be that. They are terrorists.   Nobody and nothing is off limits.   Our walls are covered in crayon and pencil.  Our new kitchen table has been branded with marker.  There is crayon on the windows.  My cupboards and drawers are empty.  My counter tops are full. They have figured out how to climb up on the table, and how to climb onto the windowsill and over the back of the couch, how to climb out of their cribs, and how to climb out of their clothes!       Our boys did not do these things.   I wasn't prepared.   I thought we had a plan...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tales They Will Tell

Every season has it's enjoyment, but I feel like we really ramp up the "memory making" in the summer months.  Maybe it's because we have Ross home and more time for doing things out of the ordinary.  We have a more flexible schedule and more freedom to do "fun" things.  I enjoy thinking about what the kids will remember from these days.  They are still pretty young so it may be just a feeling that stays with them or a vague recollection here and there, but I hope they remember it was a good time of life.    A couple of days ago they boys went with Ross and loaded some fresh roadkill in the trunk of our car.  That's legal now in our state.  They came home thrilled with their find...all three of them.  Sawyer told me, "This is the best day ever, right Mom?!"  Boy, if I had known that's all it took, we could have saved a lot of money.  They got to help skin it.  I'm sure a three-year-old with a skinning knife is p...
2 comments
Read more