Family Dynamics

Individually, my children are absolutely divine. They are polite, articulate, perfect little beings. It's only when they are together that sparks really begin to fly. There is screaming. There is hair-pulling. There are bodily spasms a crazed seizure that usually culminate in the child hurling himself onto the carpet or some other soft object within reach. Even in the midst of a full-body tantrum, my children would never willingly injure themselves. How can three children who share my DNA, be so unruly? I am at a loss mostly because I am an only child. Being an only child is lonely in early childhood but when I look at my children, I don't think I missed out on anything good.

Today, while Bubba was napping and I was working, Olie was watching Ice Age 2. Enter Lizzie. She goes down to her room, deposits her backpack, stinks up the bathroom, then, as though it is an afterthought, reminds me that her sister "lost movies and television for a week." Oh-kay. The real issue here, though, is why are you ratting on your sister? I thought sibs were supposed to support one another even in illicit tv watching and cupcake snacking. That's not how my girls roll. Lizzie always reminds me that her sister lost television/Legos/stuffed animals. Always. As though it is her implicit duty to substitute parent when I am oh-so-obviously mentally incapacitated.

Olie is a bit better because she never remembers if or when her sister lost a privilege. Olile is, however, a real stinker to Bubba. This weekend they got into a PHYSICAL FIGHT over a Barbie bus that is missing one wheel and a sliding door. Apparently, some of Olie's cat people were riding in the bus when Bubba catnapped it and drove it across the basement floor to parts afar. Chaos ensued. Olie's arm got caught in the one working sliding door when Bubba suddenly yanked on the bus and both Olie and her cat people were (hardly) injured. It was like two velociraptors fighting over prey. Bubba clutched the bus the entire night and ran towards it if Olie even looked in its direction. There is no lack of non-cooperation in this household, I tell ya.

I only hope things improve with age or there will be lots of summers where the kids spend lots of quality, separate, time at camp.