Whining and Fighting and Tears, OH MY!

I am currently hiding in my room while all four kids are taking a much needed (and I might add, earned) nap. I am not foolish enough to think they are really napping, but they are in their rooms, and that is good enough for me.

Annye is having major issues lately. Crying over everything. If she doesn't get her way, she cries. And cries. Pretty soon, she is crying and holding her head. I think she cries so much it gives her a headache. I know it gives me one. Still, she is not the main problem.

The girls are SO contentious all the time. I have heard that they are nice to each other at school, but I don't really believe it. Because one can be happy alone, but as soon as the other one comes out of the classroom, the whining and fighting begin. "You never let me get in the van first." "Your bag is in my way." I don't want to hold your left hand, I want to hold your right." That last one is a joke, because neither one of them seems to be able to grasp left and right. But I digress. They fight over who gets which chair during homework time, who gets to read to me first, who placed their shoes closer to where they are supposed to go. You name it, I have heard them argue about it. And whenever then can, they get Ethan involved.

Today we had to go to the store after school, to buy little things like meat and cheese for lunches. I didn't want to, but they whine if they aren't allowed to eat. So we went. As soon as the baby got strapped into the van, she started screaming. She fell asleep when we were almost there. That meant I had to carry her at the store. Which meant that the bigger kids had to hold hands across the parking lot and then help me in the store. Emma was supposed to push the cart, Ethan was supposed to pull, Ame was going to grab what I needed and put it in the cart. I thought it would work just fine. But the boy threw a fit because he wanted to push, Emma pushed him away, they kept running in to me, Ethan decided he would push towards Emma. This whole huge struggle. And I was becoming that mom, I could feel it building up. You know, the one who flips out in the middle of the store and just starts yelling at her kids. Then, after about 15 minutes of just trying to get to the isles I needed to go to without someone dying, Ame started to complain that she hadn't been able to help me get anything. "When can I get something? Why aren't you having me get anything?" That was the straw. We left the store without anything. So I hope we have enough meat and cheese for lunches tomorrow.

I was so frazzled, I went to another store. But this time I went in alone. I figured this was a sort of a Darwin experiment. I half expected that when I got back out to the van, I would have less children because they would kill each other. I figured if they did, at least I wouldn't be there to hear it. GOING CRAZY! I spent a little extra time in the store, enjoying the fact that no one was picking fights there. I was only there for 5-10 minutes, but when I left, I had a spring in my step. Things were looking up.

I got in the van and everyone was sitting in their respective seats. Annye was still asleep. The kids were laughing, quietly. I asked if everyone was nice, they said yes. I got in, happy that I had left them for a moment so they could regroup. By the time I put on my seat belt, they were at it again.