saturday, december 15, 2001
bicker, bicker

my kids must be having a new contest going on that they failed to tell me about. it's called: bicker, bicker. for over 2 weeks now there has been this almost constant bickering. it starts as soon as two of them are up in the morning at the same time, breaks while they all go to separate schools, resumes once two or more of them are home and doesn't end until all of them are asleep. it has become this constant background noise in our house. nothing, and i mean nothing, is off limits: what they are wearing to school (usually jewel harassing shebop), who gets to hold which toy (taz and shebop, and this one isn't even covering who actually plays with the toy...the winner never actually plays with it, just holds it), which load of laundry goes in first or next (jewel and phoenix, not that it matters if its the blacks or the pinks, mind you), who sits where at the table, and on and on add nauseum.

i'm debating on whether i should knock them out for awhile or tape their mouths.

i honestly can't pinpoint when it all started. they bickered on and off since they were born (well, ok, so give them a few months before they started), but nothing like this. every morning jewel and shebop are in a fight over clothes, shebop's clothes more specifically. this morning i must have told them over a dozen times to keep it down and knock it off. i'm amazed saxy slept until 9:30 - kid fighting usually serves as an alarm for him!

i've almost always been able to sleep through the sunday morning bickering that happens before dad picks them up. no worries, i wake up when things get serious. it's that mother instinct, you know. general bickering and fighting is going to happen - that's part of being kids. it's the serious stuff a parent has to be aware of and be ready to break up. unfortunately, my kids are making us aware of even the most minor of issues.

these are the days when i wonder what the heck i was thinking to have FOUR kids, all the while knowing that i really wanted one more (and now can never have).

then there's taz. we understand taz is really special. we understand that he has sensory processing problems that contribute greatly to his behavior. and we understand that there have been some changes and issues at school that desperately need to be dealt with. but this boy's behavior has been getting way out of hand lately. but i'm also sure the bickering at home is contributing to a lot of the problems at school and vice versa. and i don't need the girls bickering with each other or fighting with him to add ot the mix.

another issue is that teen control thing. phoenix just wants to be mom, but no one else, not even me, is willing to put up with her as mom. and jewel is trying to follow in her steps when it comes to the little ones. and none of them want to listen to the others. today the two older girls go with dad to do a little shopping, and come home in fits because they were going to buy gifts for saxy and i together but then phoenixcat got bossy and jewel changed her mind and phoenix started demanding and..well, you get the picture.

after yelling at them, taking away privileges, and coming down to the point where they are not allowed to talk to each other, i am not in the mood for my kids today.