As a wife & a mom of a 7 & 3 yro, it amazes me how my patience can be tested on a daily basis. I love my husband & our daughters but man they can be difficult! Marriage & parenting in general require an ever-evolving methodology but most important to remember is ... none of us are perfect.
Yesterday, while entertaining 8 members of our family my youngest & sassiest daughter Mikayla pushed away a plate of food and tossed her spoon because she didn't like that I cut up her hot dog instead of serving it on a bun. My husband reacted quickly to her bad behavior by throwing her plate into the trash. I was shocked that he would just throw it way to make a point but part of me was infuriated because I spent so much time preparing the meal to begin with! Instead of loosing my cool with Mikayla, I lost it with my husband. Unfortunately, a fight ensued.
Of course my husband's family is MY family too... and all of us at one time or another have bickered, fought or copped an attitude with our spouses over something. So despite my embarrassment, it's unnecessary for me to feel this way. My husband & I quickly made up and I apologized to everyone, because the last thing I want, is to make our family uncomfortable when they're guests in our home. Thankfully, our wonderful family is so understanding and has the "been there, done that" kind of attitude so our stupid drama was forgiven & will hopefully be forgotten.
Today is Monday and after a fun & relaxing weekend it's never easy to wake up early and start a brand new week all over again. My husband has to leave the house early so it's up to me to get our girls ready for school and out of the house on time. This morning everything was running smoothly until Mikayla decided to throw a fit over the color hair tie that I put in her hair. She cried, complained and proceeded to rip out the hair tie that I had just put in. Madelyn who is old enough to know better, just HAS to get involved and instigate, began to laugh and push at Mikayla escalating her temper further. So, 5 minutes before we had to leave the house they both sat in timeout.
Not exactly the way I like to start the day or the week for that matter but I am tired of the bickering & fighting between them. By the end of bad day, I am mentally drained! On good days, I praise them up & down, on how much it warms my heart and makes me happy to see them get along. Parenting competitive siblings is foreign territory to me because "I" am an only child. Basically, I don't care who starts the fight anymore because no matter who starts it, the other one wastes no time retaliating. So now when they fight they both immediately go to timeout, NO warnings. They'll still get warnings for bad behavior but for fighting there will be NONE. I don't expect them to get along every moment of every day, but our daily life would be much happier & peaceful if they would exercise a little more restraint, make better choices and treat each other more kindly.
**Of course, that last sentence applies to my husband & I as well.**
I have an only child so I don't get to experience the sibling bickering. I work breakfast in the morning at school, before I have to go into the clinic. The most trouble I have is with siblings arguing...funny I don't care who starts it either, I usually just tell the one tattling on the other to make sure they tell their mother about it when they get home, because I don't want to hear it at school. :D
ReplyDeleteMel, if you ever need to talk, and yes we've all been there. I am now dealing with the rolling eyes, and those tones that are a tad too snippy! You just wait! :D Call me!
Well, being a middle child, I can tell you that bickering & arguing is just par for the course. But with that comes loyalty & friendship. You can never replace the bond of a sibling! Maddy & Mikayla will be forever friends through good & bad. Like me & Lauren, Maddy & Mikayla are very different people who definitely won't always get along. I can't tell you how many times I screamed, "I hate you!" to my sister. But in the end we'll always be there for each other just as Maddy & Mikayla will.
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