Tonight the boys have been playing and fighting on & off. One minute they're playing quietly and the next moment the younger two have been running to me and complaining about their older brother.
There is no doubt my oldest is my baddest and most obnoxious child. I think he takes pride in this. I also know that the middle and youngest boys like to instigate a fight and play victim. Sometimes I try to separate or mediate and other times, like tonight, I tire of the chaos and tell them to work it out.
Of course there needs to be a threat, such as " If I have to tell you boys one more time to be quiet and stop fighting....." followed by a consequence. Tonight's was " You won't be allowed to have a sleep-over at your cousins' house tomorrow."
A short time later, my 6 year old "baby" hands me this note ( pictured above ).
"Mom! Devon gave me this note" he whines with a sad, hurt look on his face.
" Dear Colin, You have a brain that is the size of an ant and the ant is 1/1000 of an inch." proclaims the offending missive.
" Devvvon!!" I yell " Come down here!"
My oldest promptly comes to see what I want.
" Did you write this note?" I ask
" No " he replies " That is not my writing! It looks like Colin's"
The printed note is in much neater than my 6 year old's typical writing. I look him in the eye and repeat the question. I get the same response and realize he is telling the truth. I call down my middle child. Same interrogation, same answer. I finally call down my youngest, who left the room when I called his oldest brother down.
"Colin, did you write this note?" I sternly ask while I make him look me in the eye.
" Yes..." he replied. " I did it because Devon was hurting me and I wanted to get him in trouble."
" Well it didn't work!" I said and sent Colin to his room for lying.
When he was out of earshot I looked at his brothers and warned them that they better watch out. Their baby brother is getting quite clever. One day he will get revenge and it won't be pretty. Like the bunny in "Hoodwinked", his cute, cuddly demeanor belies the evil genius that lurks within.
2 comments:
When my kids were a lot younger they would constantly snipe at each other (still do), but the worst thing I ever did to them was forbid them to talk to each other. Within a couple of hours they were crying and begging me to let them play with one another again. It was amazing.
Ooh, what a clever one he is!
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