Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Bickering Brood

Motherhood at the moment is, in a word ... challenging. My chicklets are constantly bickering. The older ones are at it almost every waking moment, and the Little Prince is not being all that charming either. Of course, it doesn't help that the Geek is out of town on an extended business trip.  Solo parenting is never an easy endeavor with this brood.


Boy Wonder is hyper vigilant and quick to point out the Munchkin's errors (real or perceived). Truthfully, he has done this her entire life ... it's a long story maybe for another day ... but suffice it to say, it's part of who he is. Sometimes it's worse than others ... this is one of those times.  Sometimes it's easier to ignore than others ... this is not one of those times.

To make matters worse, the Munchkin is in full on Drama Queen mode. According to her, everyone hates her ... nobody loves her ... wah! wah! wah!  I suggested she go eat some worms, but the humor was lost on her and my words were met with more abhorrently annoying whining. In her angst, she is pushing all of Boy Wonders "buttons" and is just peeved with anything and everything the Little Prince does. Yay!

I guess my biggest problem right now is learning how to deal with sibling rivalry. I was the youngest of five children and most of my siblings had flown (or were just about to) the coop by the time I made my appearance. I grew up essentially like an only child and never really experienced sibling rivalry.  For that reason, my brood's incessant squabbling is foreign to me.  I have no idea if this is normal or not.

Pardon my disillusionment, but I always dreamed my kids would get along better than this. The first two were spaced out far enough (seven years) that I  thought there would not be all that much fighting. Sure, I thought maybe the occasional grumpy confrontation, but not all day, everyday. To say this is killing me, might not be all that much of an exaggeration. I am sure it has got to be affecting my blood pressure, because it's certainly causing my stress level to skyrocket.

I've tried talking with them, pleading with them, grounding them, and taking away their prized possessions. Oh, and while I am not proud to say this, I have yelled ... oh how I have yelled.  Yelling, sadly, seems to have the greatest impact.  It's the one thing that makes them stop, unfortunately it doesn't last for too long. I just don't understand why they just can't get along ... even for a day. Any suggestions? Anything at all?

I know this too shall pass, at least I'm praying it does (are you listening up there, God?) but I gotta be honest... this is so not what I planned. It's not what I thought motherhood would be like at all ... it's sooooo much tougher than I ever imagined in my wildest dreams! There are days where I just don't feel up to the challenge. I think to myself, "I am not strong enough to handle this!" That's often when I remember this quote...

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."
Mother Teresa

Ain't that the truth! I know God has brought me to this point in life and He will surely bring me through it, I just honestly wish it was a little less painful. I wish I had three angelic chicklets that got along famously, but I don't. I just need to accept that, I guess and plunder on with this mommy gig. If I'm lucky, they'll turn out decent and if I'm not ... well, I guess they'll get their money's worth on the therapist's couch someday :)

for reals, God? cuz' i'm not so sure sometimes :)

1 comment:

Jill Briggs said...

If there isn't any blood nor is either in a coma--"figure it out yourselves".
I've also tried the golden rule but they seem to forget it often.