The child with devil horns and a halo

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Just when you think that your child has reached the point of no return and grown the horns of a devil, they turn around and stun you with a simple gesture of kindness.

It would be correct to say that on most days my son is the clear winner of The Drive Mummy Crazy and Makes Sure Mummy Has More Grey Hairs By The End Of The Day awards.

He does all the gross things that boys do, especially to his sister. Theirs is often a love /hate relationship, and the love can turn to hate in an instant.

Today, even though Miss 8 was at school for 8 hours, I had still had enough of the bickering between the two of them, the pushing, the evil faces, and the taunts. It became an automatic reaction to jump in between them by the end of the day.

As night fell, and bedtime was in sight, we performed our nightly rituals and the pj's were on. This is always a calming signal to my frayed nerves. The donning of the night attire is the light at the end of the tunnel for me.

Tonight, though Miss 8 was distressed with another leg ache. I sat and rubbed her leg as I supervised the swallowing of ALL of the pain relief. Master 4 wanted to climb on my knee at that point. Here we go, I thought, another power struggle for attention.  But just when you think you have it figured out, the world spins a little faster to tip you off balance.

With his position secured on my knee, Master 4 then started rubbing his sister's leg too. "Does that feel better, am I doing it right?" he asked his sister. Despite all of the bickering, the tears and the yelling of the day, she relaxed under his touch and smiled sweetly at his gesture.

I informed her she had to finish the whole dose of pain relief. With much drama, she stated "Really? I think it is going to make me sick!" Master 4 bolted from my knee to grab a bucket from the laundry. He placed it ever so carefully in front of his sister. "There you go, just in case you need it". Miss 8 looked at me with a smirk and shrugged. She understood the moment. Siblings may bicker, but at the end of the day, you are there for each other.

I have been waiting all this time to say It's All My Brothers Fault!

My brother will be the first to tell you that when we were growing up, he only had to look my way and I would start hollering. It was really my only defence , given the eight years between us, and the obvious size and strength difference.

So what has he done this time? (Maybe I should be ringing Mum instead of writing it here, lol)

The most dirty, sneaky, conniving trick in the book. The worst thing to do to a sibling who is now an adult with a family of her own. He introduced us to  ...... ANGRY BIRDS!

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Of all the low, brotherly things he has tried this would have to be the worst.

On his recommendation, Angry Birds was one of the first things I loaded onto my Android mobile when it was new. You would think that after all these years I would be wary of listening to his advice.

I was hooked , and hubby was disgusted. As the children got older and more capable, they too were soon flinging birds across my screen. I must admit, it is sometimes handy to keep them quiet.

Now, Miss 8 has an ipod and her own version of Angry Birds. She had to have it.

Hubby has become the latest victim, alternating between my phone and his daughter's ipod trying to beat the current highest scores.

I looked around our lounge room recently, lit by candles during a power outage.

I sat with my phone, and hubby and Miss 8 took turns on the ipod playing Angry Birds until there was no more charge left in either and then ... it was obviously time to go to bed.

What has become of us?

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All I can say is ... maybe this is Karma for hollering to get him in trouble all of the time, when he was in his room!

Things I know ... about the state of us

As we draw closer to the end of the year I can feel things reaching a crescendo.
I can feel the gumpiness in our house,  I can feel the patience wearing thin, I can feel the weariness. And that is literally before I look beyond myself.

So these are the things evident to me this week:

1. 1. Sibling rivalry is rampant in our house as tired brother and sister snap and bicker with each other in frustration.
2. As the weather becomes warmer and more predictible we are drawn to spend more time outdoors, with the threat of dangerous UV rays hanging over our heads.
3. I am seriously overdue for a massage!
4. There is much channel surfing going on in our household as we desperately seek something decent to watch.
5. I am tending to block out the world with music more and more.

Linking up with Yay for Home!

and with Tis the Life

Happiness is .... happy children.

 

Our house is commonly full of noise of one sort or another. I would expect this from four people sharing a small house. I would also expect some noise from the children. That's what childhood is all about right ... expressing yourself and testing the barriers.

There is also a fair share of sibling rivalry.

So when my children sit down and play nicely that really is a lovely moment. A moment to treasure and definately one that brings happiness and harmony to the house.

Sometimes, but definately not all the time, these two are very close.

He likes to see things from every angle, including from the lounge.

Thanks again to Rub Some Dirt On It for the blog hop. http://rubsomedirtblog.com/

Happiness Is…

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