joanna514

I just sat down at the computer after some cleaning and talking and
cooking and talking and eating and talking and more talking and a
couple of rounds of hide and go seek ( I'm just "base" and "counting
helper".... trying desperately to finish a book, I've been trying to
read all summer, during the searching times)
My 3yo is in a pink boa and nothing else, my 5yo Jack
a.k.a "underwear boy" is in typical attire, my 8 yo ds is literally
bouncing of the walls and my almost twleve yo dd is dressed like a
prostitute, but in the game they are playing, she is the "evil
princess".
I just turned around when some screaming kids whirred by, and
yelled "ANYONE CRIES, AND EVERYONE IS IN BED!" which was completely
ignored. No cries yet though!
They have so much fun together, and at times like these(daily) I feel
torn between feeling extremely blessed and extremely on edge, waiting
for it to go too far and it end in some trauma.
My 5yo does an awesome english accent thanks to Harry Potter. It's
really cute with his little lisp.
My 3yo yells " Oooooh, BOYS" to her older brothers,with a little bit
of a southern drawl that I have no idea where it comes from. She's
got them wrapped around her finger though.
The older 2 are planning and directing and living in some sort of
fantasy world with their siblings and being really nice right now.
i hope the evil queen doesn't get too evil or I have to turn
into "mean mommy" and end it before they are saying they hate each
other.
i could join the game and remove the chance of anger between them,
but when I do that, I know i take a little of the magic away.
I really like to listen.
Does anyone know a good time to step in or a good way to redirect,
before it ends in "HE HIT ME!!!" "SHE CALLED ME STUPID!!!".
Tonight seems to be going well.
If I suggested a book or a game right now, they would turn me down
because they are in the midst of their fun.
i need to figure out that magic time right before the fun stops and
fights start.
Or maybe the fighting is part of the fun....
Joanna

kayb85

> Does anyone know a good time to step in or a good way to redirect,
> before it ends in "HE HIT ME!!!" "SHE CALLED ME STUPID!!!".

I would also like to know the answer to that! And then what do you
do when it happens and they're all crying and screaming and looking
at you to fix everything. "He hit me with his train". "But that's
only because he took my track away". "I only took his track away
because she called me a name". "I did not call him a name!" And
then they start attacking each other again before your head even
starts spinning.

I probably didn't handle it very well tonight. They all came at me
with all the terrible things that were done to each of them,
screaming and crying and hitting and kicking and I said "WAIT!"
Raise your hand if I called one of you a name tonight. No one raised
their hand except my 3 year old who heard "Raise your hand" and
nothing else! lol They giggled a little when he did that. Then I
said, "Raise your hand if I hit, kicked, or pinched one of you
tonight". Again the three year old raises his hands and the other
two start laughing harder. Then I say, "And raise your hand if I
threw a train at you tonight". Again, the three year old raises his
hand. Now they're really laughing hard. And I said (in an
exaggerated dramatic voice) "If I didn't hit, kick, pinch, call you a
name, or throw a train at you, why are you in here yelling at me
about being hit, kicked, pinched, called names, and having trains
thrown at you?" And they all started laughing hard (tension
relieved). But I swear within 2 minutes they were at it again. Sigh.




Sheila

[email protected]

I've been lurking here for about a week, trying to acquaint myself with the
list amidst all this Ned business. Just wanted to say that I've spent a fair
amount of time as "base" and that I have my own 5 year old "captain
underpants". I don't know the answer to Joanna's question about when to step
in, but that's the kind of question, on all kinds of levels, I've come here
seeking.

Regina

In a message dated 8/30/02 9:01:15 PM, Wilkinson6@... writes:

<< I just sat down at the computer after some cleaning and talking and
cooking and talking and eating and talking and more talking and a
couple of rounds of hide and go seek ( I'm just "base" and "counting
helper".... trying desperately to finish a book, I've been trying to
read all summer, during the searching times)
My 3yo is in a pink boa and nothing else, my 5yo Jack
a.k.a "underwear boy" is in typical attire, <snip> Does anyone know a good
time to step in or a good way to redirect, before it ends in "HE HIT ME!!!"
"SHE CALLED ME STUPID!!!".>>