Mischief

We are pretty lax with the television watching around here. Hubs and I love movies and are surely passing that along to our kids. I find cartoons entertaining and I think if you are supplementing the TV viewing with plenty of other activities that everything will be all right in the end.

Problem is that the boys have been fighting quite a bit lately. And when I say fighting, I mean cage match style.  The uptick in fighting the past few weeks has resulted in several things. I am getting a lot less done because of the need to closely monitor all their interactions, the house has gotten a bit messy because of said close monitoring, and the children have been watching a lot of TV because for some reason the soothing sounds of Yo Gabba Gabba smooth over the arguments.

They are learning how to get along in their new positions. Little Man is not so little anymore and is starting to assert himself as a big boy, while Big Boy wants to keep things the way they were with him in charge and getting all the big boy benefits. They are trying to find a new footing as equals rather than as big brother and baby. Princess B, meanwhile, has had no problem filling her role as the baby of the family.

I have gotten in the habit of letting them watch TV whenever the fighting starts to be more than I can take. A few days ago I decided it was time to turn off the TV and make them work this thing out like proper gentlemen instead of through reruns of 1960's cartoons. I stuck them in their room and said, "Play together nicely. If you fight, you have to work it out alone. I don't want to be involved." I then went downstairs and waited for the punches to start.

But they didn't. At least I don't think they did. There has been some crying, but I think they are figuring it out finally. Today they played together all day long. I heard a few arguments, but they seemed to have worked them out. There were markers, sugar, a bottle of syrup, and electrical outlets involved. But if the mischief was achieved with a sense of brotherly bonding and cooperation, then I'll take it.

I know having two boys so close in age is going to lead to fighting and it is no where near over, but I am hoping that the fighting and the playing will bond them together and when they are adults they can look back on it all and have a good laugh.