I'm Telling Mommy

Don't you just hate it when you hear that?  I hate it even more when without even an attempt at working it out I hear the "MOM, blank won't give back my book or blank is touching me or blank is making a face at me".

It's amazing at times how powerless you can feel as a parent.  Or even how clueless you feel.  I really have no idea how to resolve the constant petty bickering. 

We actually had a practice session this week of what to do when someone pulls your hair or hits you. You tell your sibling to stop and then YOU MOVE AWAY.  Really, it's so simple.  Someone pulls your hair, do you just sit there and let them? No, you move away.  The victim doesn't realize that they have a choice too, they can choose not to let themselves get hurt.  Obviously that doesn't negate what their sibling is doing to them, but by moving away they are communicating probably more effectively with their body language that the behaviour, in this case hair pulling, is hurting and needs to stop. 

And by practice, I do mean practice.  E sat on the couch while I gently tugged her hair asking her what she is supposed to do.  It amazed me that even while I'm telling her that she needs to get up and walk away, it still took her a long time to do it.  I then turned to J and patted her, again gently, while asking her what she needs to do.  Again, it took her a while to actually get up and move away. 

I think I have reached the point this summer when I'm actually looking forward to school starting again.  We've had a great summer but you can always tell when you've hit that point and it's time to be doing something else. 

I will only have O at home during school hours come September 7th and I can already imagine how quiet it's going to be.