For the first year and a half of Baby Bunching, it was tough. Then it got (relatively) easy as they grew into playmates and would keep each other occupied for hours. Now it is kind of sucking again.
At ages 4 and 5 1/2, my Bunch have really developed into their own little (extremely argumentative) people. Lately, it seems their favorite game is one my husband likes to call "Plaintiff v. Defendant". This involves the children bringing a constant litany of wrongdoings against each other to our attention, such as:
He hit me!
He take my toy!
He knock my bike over!
He knock me over!
He eat my cookie!
He color on my paper!
He told me I have to eat my carrots!
He run faster than me! Closely followed by He didn't wait!
He threw my cars in the mud!
He said I couldn't choose the movie/story/game!
And my personal favorite: He talked to Baby when I was talking to Baby! (ever in competition to see who wins the rights to the "Best Big Brother" title)
Such accusations are typically made through tears, and we usually hear the screams and cries of outrage before we actually see the children present themselves for trial. It's usually pretty easy to tell who the perpetrator is, since he's typically trailing the alleged victim by at least a few steps. Unless somene's bleeding, our standard response is to tell them to "work it out as brothers", but lately I have actually found myself wishing that I had some sort of mediation training under my belt.
The constant arguing is no doubt exacerbated by the fact that they are so close in age, both boys, and share a bedroom. Add that to the fact that my oldest is an overachiever and my second is hypercompetitive, and it's a recipe for disaster.
Since everyone is home all day, every day this summer, I've come to the conclusion that a little personal space is in order once in awhile. Oldest boy will go to one camp that his brother is not attending, freeing me up to do some fun stuff with the two littles. I'm in the process of setting up some individual playdates so they can get away from have a break from each other, and I've instituted mandatory afternoon quiet time in separate rooms (not sure why the hell I ever let this fall by the wayside, anyway). My hope is that it will help, because I'm getting pretty tired of playing judge and jury.
For the first year and a half of Baby Bunching, it was tough. Then it got (relatively) easy as they grew into playmates and would keep each other occupied for hours. Now it is kind of sucking again.
At ages 4 and 5 1/2, my Bunch have really developed into their own little (extremely argumentative) people. Lately, it seems their favorite game is one my husband likes to call "Plaintiff v. Defendant". This involves the children bringing a constant litany of wrongdoings against each other to our attention, such as:
Such accusations are typically made through tears, and we usually hear the screams and cries of outrage before we actually see the children present themselves for trial. It's usually pretty easy to tell who the perpetrator is, since he's typically trailing the alleged victim by at least a few steps. Unless somene's bleeding, our standard response is to tell them to "work it out as brothers", but lately I have actually found myself wishing that I had some sort of mediation training under my belt.
The constant arguing is no doubt exacerbated by the fact that they are so close in age, both boys, and share a bedroom. Add that to the fact that my oldest is an overachiever and my second is hypercompetitive, and it's a recipe for disaster.
Since everyone is home all day, every day this summer, I've come to the conclusion that a little personal space is in order once in awhile. Oldest boy will go to one camp that his brother is not attending, freeing me up to do some fun stuff with the two littles. I'm in the process of setting up some individual playdates so they can get away from have a break from each other, and I've instituted mandatory afternoon quiet time in separate rooms (not sure why the hell I ever let this fall by the wayside, anyway). My hope is that it will help, because I'm getting pretty tired of playing judge and jury.