Oh...they really DO love each other!

Do anybody else's kids start fighting the minute they wake up? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'm a bit of a fighter myself. But, really, can't they just finish their breakfast before they start crying about someone (Maddox) who hit someone else (Hadley) because someone (Hadley) is sitting in someone else's (Maddox's) chair? Or someone (Maddox) who spit at someone else (Hadley) because someone (Hadley) told him it was HER turn to say the prayer? Seriously, you guys, you are fighting about a prayer. KNOCK IT OFF!

So...is there evidence that they are good people who really love each other but are just trying to exercise a little bit of independence? I think so!

Whenever Lincoln is crying, one of his siblings comes running to his rescue to coo at him, hold him, put a toy in his chubby hands or do a silly dance for him. He is the lucky one. Nobody is fighting with him yet!

Hadley has recently discovered that she can use the microwave. I never used to let her touch things in the kitchen but she has blossomed into a child who loves to read and follow instructions. Of course, that carries over to preparing food and I am now allowing her to do some things for herself. It's great, by the way! But on subject, this morning, she fixed oatmeal for herself and for her brother. She knows just how Maddox likes it and was so sweet to him. This is just one example of how well she takes care of her brother. I have had moments of feeling proud of her and moments of feeling guilty about it. I'm so proud that she can be so helpful, is so grown up and is so thoughtful. I feel guilty because before I had Lincoln, she never had to take care of Maddox. I always did it. I know, I know... it's part of growing up. Do I have to let them grow up, though?

How about Maddox...? Well, the evidence that he loves his sister with him is always and never there. I say always because he has such wonderful intentions and I say never because the reality is that he's a boy who is rough, crazy and forgets all about his intentions. I don't think he means to spit at her or hit her quite as often as he does. I think (hope?) he knows it's wrong. I interpret it as his way of telling her to quit bossing him around, to quit mothering him, to quit being the "big sister". But when it really comes down to it, his entire face lights up when Hadley is around. When he woke up from his nap today to find that his sister had gone to play with a friend, he was devastated.

In my reflections on my kids and how they relate with one another, I am reminded of my own childhood and my relationships with my siblings. I know we had our ups and our downs, our times of being close to one another and our times of hating one another. The interesting thing is that even now, as adults, we have those times. There are some of my siblings that I have much more in common with and others that can STILL push my buttons and make me want to clobber them. Does that mean I don't love them all? No! Of course not! So I guess when my kids are fighting over the breakfast that one of them (Hadley) so lovingly prepared for the other one (Maddox), I can count my blessings that they have each other and hold my breath and wait until one more (Lincoln) adds his bowl of oatmeal to the kitchen bar and joins in the morning squabble.