“Mom, Andrew took my toy.” “Mom he’s laying on me!” “MOOOMMMMMM, HELP!!!!”
The good thing is that my kids are starting to play together and have a good time. But, the bad news is that the arguing has started as well. My kids are only 2 and 4 and the bickering and complaining and yelling has begun.
It used to be only once in a while that I would hear Ella complaining about her brother doing something to annoy her, but now it’s daily and usually MULTIPLE times. She calls him her “little bother” instead of little brother. (If you watch Nick Jr. – you’ll get this from Olivia)
But, Andrew doesn’t get it. He is just having fun. At first, its all fun and games until someone gets really mad and it turns into tears (from Ella) and loud screeching (from Andrew). A lot of the time, I head it off before it gets to the loud phase, but sometimes I don’t make it in time. It seems that the more bored they are, the more grumpy and argumentative they get.
So, this summer I’ve been trying to fill our days with activities to keep the crankiness away. Circle time with the daycare kids, arts and crafts, outside time, walks, parks, library, etc… There are only so many things you can do it a day before you are worn out!
I think this is just going to be a problem for a while. I think it’s the age. What do you think? Have you experienced this with your kids yet or did you experience it as a child?
Share with me your tips and tricks to keeping the peace in your household and you could 
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So, share with me! Tell me your mommy secrets to getting your kids to be happy and get a long through these long days of summer and I’ll enter you to win!
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WINNER!! CONGRATS TO #2 COMMENTER – JENNY!
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Even though Cole is an only child right now, I deal with this every time we have friends over to play or I watch other peoples kids. Busy schedule is exactly what I have found that works…but boy, it is exhausting! I am anxious to see other comments to get ideas too
BTW: LOVE the basket!!!
You’re right…it is exhausting, Jenny! I try hard to stay busy…but get worn out by the evening “witching hours”!
The only thing so far that has saved us this summer is our pool. Yet they still argue about pool toys. Go figure! Ugh.
Brittany´s last blog ..Songs That Remind Me Of Summer #3
Ahhh…A pool WOULD be perfect! We are members of a pool, but do not have our own. That would be great!
Separate corners. No Seriously they’re young enough they still do a lot of parallel play so I move them to separate sides of the room.
Frantic Holly´s last blog ..I’m Doing It: 60 Miles in 3 Days
YES – parallel play whether they want to or not! haha!!
I usually buy 4 of the same toy & write their names on it lol in the summer we spend our days outside where they generally get along.
Jess´s last blog ..*Game* Unscramble The Pirate Birthday Words!
GREAT idea, Jess! The only problem with that is that I have 7 total kids here during the day with our in-home daycare. Not sure that buying 7 toys would fit my husband’s budget! LOL But, I *could* do it for my 2!
Unfortunately, fussing is pretty normal. Much of it….they just have to work out. Unless it’s plain old meanness.
I had 3 under 4 years old. It was rowdy, everyday!
However, I kept an eye on them and intervened when it was necessary. Teaching them kindness is hard work. But it’s very important for them to understand the value of other people.
EX: We don’t hit each other. 1) it hurts 2) it makes Jesus sad 3) it doesn’t help me get my way
Take the offender out of the mix. They figure out quick…if I act like a hooligan, I can’t play.
Yours are at the perfect age to “teach” all the rules of good behavior.
Goodluck!
wanda´s last blog ..Even when the storm comes…
Hi Wanda! Thanks for stopping by and leaving some great tips! You’re right…it is the perfect age to “teach” children the rules of good behavior. They so want to please – and can change easily!
My younger girls (9, 4, 3) are having less squabbles this week since we started to doing weekly themes. They came up with 12 topics & we drew them out of a bowl and placed them on a weekly calendar. We are doing crafts, library books, coloring and outings based on the weekly theme. Our library trips are for books on Mon & Wed and a theme movie on Fri. There free play is revolving around their theme~ right now I can hear them playing airplane follow the leader in the yard (this week’s theme~ planes). I have also become very vocal about our plans~ @ 11 we are going to craft time @ 3 we are going to the pool, etc… so they know what to expect when.
Sheila – the themes are a GREAT idea! Im definitely going to try to do this more! We’ve done this with my daycare from time to time, but then it fizzles out. (mostly due to my inability to plan far ahead! haha!)
We use this product called “Pocket Referee”. It is just a fancy coin. Whoever has possession of the coin gets to have their way if there is a dispute. Once they have used their turn to make the decision, then they need to pass it onto the next child.
Karen of 3G2S´s last blog ..Review: St. Eve Toddler Girl’s 3pc Pajamas for Warm Weather
Oooooo….good idea, Karen!!
My boys are 1 and almost-3, and my older son definitely gets frustrated with his little brother. To keep the peace in our house, we enforce some mandatory separation – we’ll put one of them in the playroom with the gate up, and one of them will be in the living room playing with the toys there. They both have fun and get free reign of that room, and we get a little peace and quiet! We’ll usually split up and my husband will be with one while I’m with the other, which provides great one-on-one time, too.
Christi @ Frugal Novice´s last blog ..Menu Plan Monday – June 21-26
Good idea to split them up! The problem with that is that they always wander back to each other! haha!
Keep them busy. We do art projects and cooking projects every day! If they are kept busy and entertained enough they won’t fight.
Debra ´s last blog ..OKA b. Shoes That Love You Review and Giveaway and Discount
I am not sure if I am supposed to only leave one comment or not if so you can just count one of my comments and disregard the rest. So my other thing is getting out of the house. We get stir crazy and getting out and going to playdates is a necessity. I am an Organizer for a Meetup.com group and a member of others. Meetup.com is one of my best tools for keeping us active and happy. There is always something to do on at least one of my groups. So I guess I kind of digressed but anyway yes getting out of the house is definitely important.
Debra´s last blog ..OKA b. Shoes That Love You Review and Giveaway and Discount
Hi Debra!
Yes, you can leave multiple comments! I’m so glad you did, thank you!
I’ve never heard of Meetup.com. I’m going to have to check it out! Playdates are fun and a great way to beat off boredom!
Bribery! LOL…but I’m kinda serious! Our two kids are in their early teens, so fighting has grown more complicated, but is just as annoying. They both have certain things they want, though, and they get an allowance, which we dock for every fight they have (the amount depends on the severity of the argument). It doesn’t work immediately, but once they lose part of their allowance they are motivated to get along a lot better!
They both also have a short list of things they need to do each day, so we *try* to keep them busy enough that they don’t have time to fight. (Doesn’t really work, but we like to think it helps!)
Thanks…hope to learn from some of the other comments and maybe try something new!
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