There are 10 people in this house. Two parents, one “man-child (Brandon is 20 now)” and seven kids under age 13. We’re on top of each other! So, yeah, there will be fights…I get that. But, when the same two kids go at it all day, every day, several times a day…well, that’s where I draw the line.
Kourtney, age 4, and Thomas, almost 7, are like oil and water, cats and dogs, ALUMINUM FOIL AND MICROWAVES! It just ain’t happening!
When Thomas gets in from school, they go at it! All day Saturday, they go at it. All day Sunday, they’re at it some more. I talk, I fuss, I lecture, I holler, I put them in time-out and I separate them. I even issue crazy, idle threats like, “Punch somebody one more time and I’m gonna punch you!”
NOTHING WORKS!
We’re selling our home and need to pack up a house of 10 people in just a few short weeks. So things around here are way crazier than usual. Like a 9.0 on the Crazy Richter Scale. We are crawling from beneath the crazy rubble daily! So, I don’t have time for knock-down, drag-outs.
This past Saturday, after an insanely hectic week, I was praying for a “semi-calm” weekend. See, I don’t ask for much. Low expectations. But Kourtney and Thomas had something else in mind.
Cue endless fighting…
And I don’t just mean arguing or bickering. I mean throwing blows, pushing, snatching and slamming doors on each other…the whole nine! I’d had enough. But I had no idea what to do about it. Time-outs, separations and restrictions were pointless, and hollering does nothing but spoil my mood and give me frown lines on my forehead.
And then, I had a light bulb moment! I remembered all those pictures floating around Facebook of kids in their Get-Along shirts. I figured it was worth a shot.
So I did it! I marched those two into my room, grabbed a pair of scissors, snatched an old t-shirt from my drawer, cut the neck wider and put it on them! Their reaction was shocking! Priceless and hysterical! I thought for sure they would snicker and laugh about it. Actually, it was me who was fighting back the laughter.
They begged and pleaded and promised to be nice. So after a few minutes of what they obviously viewed as sheer torture, I let them off the hook. And get this! They spent the rest of the day playing together and haven’t had a fight since!
The Power of the Get-Along Shirt!
MOMS, get you one!
Donloyn LeDuff Gadson is a writer, inspiration specialist and award-winning blogger. She is also the creator of www.KeepingUpWithTheCrazy.com, a blog that chronicles the craziness of day-to-day living in a family of 10.
Donloyn can also be found at www.Donloyn.com.
