{Another post with pics from back in 2007….back before I had a blog!}
I’ve just had too much fun looking back at all this old fun stuff!
These 2 little boys have always fought. Since the day we brought Rhett home from the hospital, 2 1/2 year old Braden made sure we knew he didn’t appreciate having any of the attention taken away from him. He used to throw cars/action figures/hard toys into Rhett’s bassinet when he was sleeping and all sorts of other shenanigans. He was the type of child that you couldn’t leave in the room alone with the baby for very long.
But, as much as they’ve always been competitive and bickered and fought with each other, they’ve also loved each other. They’ve always shared a room (until about 10 days ago) and often even a bed. When one is gone, the other one misses him. I know that they’ll always love each other no matter what. Having never had a sibling of the same gender, I can’t understand that bond that they have… I can’t wait to see what their relationship is like as they get older.
Now that they’re a little older… I have a new punishment for their fighting and bickering.
I got this one from Kurt and Brenda Warner’s book.
When they are fighting and not getting along, I make them touch.
It starts with holding hands for a specified period of time. If that doesn’t work, it goes to cheek to cheek, then nose to nose. If that doesn’t work, it goes lip to lip.
We rarely have to move on to #4. In fact, it’s only been once and they laughed so hard, they couldn’t do it!
After the “punishment” has done the trick and they are laughing instead of fighting, they have to hug and kiss each other. They seem to both love it and hate it at the same time!
It’s funny to hear myself saying, “Do I need to put the two of you together?!” instead of, “Do I need to separate the two of you?!” Except for those times when they are having a WWE Smackdown (or whatever those things are called) in the floor and it goes way too far. Then I’m calling for separation before they break something—or each other!
Parenthood is full of trial and error and finding out what works, right? Well, this is working for us at the moment. The fighting has gotten much less since I implemented these ideas.
Since we’ve moved them to their own rooms, they have been getting along better than they ever had. Maybe they just needed a little separation for a change.
On Saturday night, Rhett offered to help Braden make his bed (his sheets had been washed that day) and then for his “reward” Braden let Rhett sleep with him.
They fell asleep snuggling with each other and slept all night. Then when they woke up, they invited Gracie upstairs and all 3 of them laid in the bed and watched cartoons so I could stay in bed for a while longer.
Let me tell ya, that’s music to the ears of a Mom who’s cried
many-a-tear over bickering brothers!
2 comments:
I've never heard of that kind of "punishment"! Interesting! Sounds like it works though.
they still get plenty of" old fashioned" punishment too! But after so many years of (what seems like) constantly getting on to them for the same things, I was desperate to try something new. Something that would be a little less" mean mom" for a change. It's nice to have it in the" arsenal"!
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