The War Zone aka My Home

There is a new phase going on in my home. One I swore would never happen. I was supposed to be the magical unicorn mom whose kids rarely fought. I did everything I could to not let it happen, I fought; I punished, I withheld, I blessed them with time outs. Nothing can stop them, the fighting and bickering and ‘stop touching me’s’ are unavoidable. Most of their punishments are ones in which I end up punishing myself (no tv) or end up creating more whining and screaming.

Now that the two oldest are of the ages of 5 and 3 their relationship has changed. No longer is it the sweet older sister playing with her cute baby sister. It is now two equals constantly competing for who knows what. I really have no idea, but it is some mysterious never ending competition. I know things will get even more… fun? enjoyable? LOUDER! when the baby gets old enough to join in on the game. Right now she is a cute toy that I can use to diffuse the situation, but she will lose her charm in about a year.

I am at the point now where I am sick of the punishing, its not fun for me or them, and it is useless, it doesn’t change anything. I have decided to give up, at least 75% give up, because I want to enjoy my life. They are going to keep fighting, competing, and whining over sometimes literally nothing or literally everything. I suspect this behavior will continue into the high school years. I mean three girls? C’mon! It’s going to be crazy!

But for now, my strategy is changing. I can’t stop their natural behavior. They are a wild pack of wolf pups using each other to practice their fighting skills that they will need to use in the real world. I will let them pounce, lightly strangle, and verbally accost each other with a small amount of guidance on how to do so more productively and maybe it will pay off. Who knows?! I don’t know what I am doing!