World War III

I am going crazy! The boys have been fighting non-stop and I'm ready to send them all to Grandma's house. (Any volunteers, Grandmas? I'll even send them to someone else's Grandma.) The fighting is only bad when all three boys are home. So poor Joel -- he comes home from school and instantly the fighting starts. At first I thought it was his fault, but then I realized it's not him, it's just the fact that all three are home and when you have three, someone is always being left out.

They fight over toys, food, attention from Mom and Dad...they even fight over seats in the living room! Last night I told them I was DONE with it and there was to be no more fighting in MY house; "if you fight again, I'm putting you outside!" Within the hour Evan and Joel were both on the front porch in their stocking feet and no coats. I'm sure the "Gladys Kravitz" of the neighborhood was wondering what I was up to, but I didn't know what else to do. ("Gladys" has also seen my boys running laps around our cul-de-sac when they get too rowdy inside.) At first the boys fought on the porch too (throwing snow at each other), but within three minutes they promised to be nice to each other and were back inside.

(FYI, sister Mindy who works for Children's Services, the boys were only outside for THREE minutes. I promise!) smile

When Ben came home from work, we took all three boys to a "sports center" where they played on gymnastics equipment and jumped on a trampoline. This helped burn off some energy and I got to "vent" to some other moms. One mom, a friend of mine, said her three boys have been doing the same thing and she attributes much of it to being stuck inside all winter. I'm praying she is right and that soon, when the weather warms up, my boys will once again be friends (or at least not try to kill each other!).

Any brilliant (or even not-so-brilliant) suggestions for nixing the fighting are welcome.