Sunday, January 06, 2002

Back to work tomorrow after my semi-vacation with the kids. I could hang out with my children on a full time basis but unfortunately, neither they nor I have the money to make that happen. I have come away from this time with a few more insights into these little individuals. Katie is a much stronger person than i ever imagined. She puts up with endless amounts of shit from her siblings and the worst response she gives is raising her voice. I know that some of her patience comes from the fact that she could give her mother problems if she ever decided to so the little ones mean nothing, There were a couple of times where she would have been justified in a retaliatory strike to the side of the head but she just moved on. Speaking of moving on, Maggie has learned that physical pain doesn’t get her very far so she has progressed into mental warfare. Max is an easy target and therefore mostly ignored but Katie requires study and planning. The latest tactic to get under her skin (basically get her attention while she has friends over) is to pay attention to the TV shows that she and her friends watch. Maggie has learned that the things that bother the older kids on the tube work like a charm on Kate. Tonight’s bedtime discussion was about Maggie calling Katie a NERD. I had to point out that the name caller sure wanted to spend a lot of time with the object of her wit and I was given the silent treatment. She did apologize when I reminded her that it was going to be an interesting sleepover tomorrow night if she and the hostess were fighting. Now segue king says “speaking of fighting, lets talk about Max”. As his frustration grows over everyone’s inability to understand his rapid babble, he has decided to emphasize points by hitting, No closed fist but a quick slap and an increase in volume. It is usually the same screech sound and I’m sure that it means stupid in toddler. The sequence is always the same: 1. dlrucz, 2. dlrucz peeze! 3. DLRUCZ PEEZE EAUUUH! (slap) Off to his room for some quiet time after a stern no followed by a five minute staring contest. I am in a daily competition to remain dominant over this child and I don’t care if my eyes dry up and blow away, I WILL NOT BLINK FIRST! I had better start lifting weights now because when he hits puberty I might be in for some trouble. 12:00:00 AM    says you