A Mom or a Referee??

Somedays I can't remember which one I am. Bryson is at a stage where he is so interested in everything Luke is doing. If Luke is playing with his cars, Bryson wants to play with them too. If Luke is reading a book, Bryson wants to read it too. If Luke is doing puzzles, Bryson wants to do them too. Sounds great right? Like they just play together for hours and hours. NOPE! It is one fight after another at my house. The problem is Bryson doesn't just want to play with Luke, he wants to the play with THE car, THE book, or THE puzzle that Luke is playing with. Well, for a 2 year old who has never had to share his toys so far in his life, that is not something he handles well.

My solution? I tell Luke to play with whatever he's playing with on the kitchen table. It's great, Luke's happy and Bryson can't see what he's doing so he doesn't know what he's missing. What am I going to do when Bryson is big enough to climb up on a chair? I have no idea. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

However, on the ODD occasion these to play really well together. It warms my heart to hear them laughing and gives me hope that one day they will actually get along.

(please ignore the crushed cracker on the floor)

About a week ago my niece, Becca, came and stayed with us for a few days while her parents went on a much deserved vacation. I was really nervous about being a mother to 3 and prepared myself for double the fights. I have to say I was DEAD WRONG! These two played SO well together. It was one of the best weeks of my life. They played from the minute they got up in the morning until it was time to go to bed. They played and shared and imagined and laughed all day. It was almost like I only had one kid again because I hardly heard from these two.

Was it just my Mom, or did anyone else get banana popsicles growing up? Just stick half a banana on a fork and throw it in the freezer. I loved them as a kid, and they thought these were so yummy.

I did try and do a few fun things with the kids while Becca was here. Here they are in their flower hats. As you can tell I am very skilled at balloon sculpting (note sarcasm). They were pretty excited about these until one of the petals popped on Becca's hat while she was wearing it. Then it wasn't so fun anymore.

The things I learned this week: 1. One day Luke and Bryson WILL play well together. 2. Maybe I am capable of 3 kids.