**sigh**
Let me go ahead and do that again, only louder for people who
may not have heard it the first time.
**SIGH**
That’s better. You know, sometimes a good sigh can help all
that is ailing the soul. Many different things can bring about a sigh such as
that. In my experience, it’s caused by some kind of frustration or exasperation
otherwise known as Ellie and Ethan.
For the most part, I absolutely love my kids and enjoy
spending time with them. However, there are definitely those times when I find
myself looking for the nearest corner to hide in or door to run straight out of
(probably while screaming). Those times generally happen when Bethany is busy
or otherwise indisposed, much like this weekend. Don’t get me wrong; I’m
actually stoked that she had the opportunity to get away for an awesome weekend
in Branson at our church’s annual women’s retreat. It’s just that nearly four solid
days as the only adult in the house can definitely lead one to **sigh**.
As far as Thursday and Friday went, those were fairly simple
days. For one thing, Bethany didn’t leave until around noon on Thursday and
Ellie spent most of both days at school. Couple those with several park visits
and our traditional Thursday night LIFE Group and all was well. Saturday,
though, is another story all together. For one thing, the lack of traditional
structure means that it’s only a matter of time until the fighting begins.
In case you’re wondering just what time this morning my role
as referee began, it was at some point between 6:15 and 6:30. I don’t have a
firm window on that because my struggles in sleeping last night kind of
resulted in me being slightly tired. I can probably thank Ethan for that since
he came to visit several times last night.
Once I was finally able to drag my weary self out of bed and
make breakfast, I’m happy to announce that the fighting ceased…briefly. Once the
kids’ bellies were full, it was only fitting that they found something to start
arguing over again. In this instance, it was the blanket fort that Ellie
erected in our living room floor. I want it to be known that I have no issue
with a well-made blanket fort. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see one in our
house. My problem is when it results in fighting between Ellie and Ethan due to
concerns of structural integrity. Namely, if Ethan’s unable to climb on top of
it without it falling apart, then a fight will break out.
Despite my best efforts to break up said fight, I could not
do so. Therefore, the only thing I could do was separate the combatants. Unfortunately,
their separation and my peace did not last long and they were back to the
battle at hand. In the past, I’ve been willing to issue spankings or time outs
in these situations, I felt like the issue had moved past that. Therefore, I
decided to take the punishment to another level.
I headed to my room and dug through some old clothes until I
found exactly what I was looking for: an old gray tank top. With that, I called
both kids to me and first slipped it over Ellie’s head and put her right arm
through one of the arm holes. The entire time I was doing this, Ellie was saying
over and over, “Dad, what are you doing? Why are you doing this?”. Then, it was
Ethan’s turn for his head to go through the head hole and his left arm to go
through the arm hole. With that, I stated, “This is the “Get Along” shirt. You
are to wear this for the next 15 minutes. If you take it off, we’re going to
have problems. Understand?”.
While the initial minutes were met with much screaming (mostly
from Ellie), they eventually communicated enough to find an activity to keep
them calm until my phone alarm ring. While I’d love to say that the “Get Along”
shirt fixed everything, unfortunately, I’d be lying. That being said, it did
help reset their little minds enough that they were able to talk through their
issues in a calmer manner the rest of the day.
In fact, we even got to have some fun between carving a pumpkin
and watching “The Peanuts Movie” on the projector. Oddly enough, the one thing
I never expected to be fun for the kids apparently was as this afternoon, both
kids asked to wear the “Get Along” shirt again. That time I said “No” though. After
all, it’s a punishment, not a reward.
#DaddyWrite
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