Its a Wild Ride!

Do your kids ever drive you absolutely crazy? Wait--that's a rhetorical question: of course they do. Having two kids that are 22 months apart is both awesome yet awful at the same time. They play together, but they also fight non-stop. Madison will throw a toy at Maverick, he'll start crying and say that 'Madison is garbage..' Madison will then start crying saying "I'm not garbage, bubbas!" and then the whole "playing nicely" is gone. Both kids are in timeout; Madison for throwing the toy, Maverick for saying his sister is garbage--its a train wreck. Its a rare thing that we get a 30-minute stretch without one of them coming crying to me about something. Oh, and the word garbage is now a "bad word" in our house because Maverick uses it so much and it drives me crazy: Captain Hook on Jake and the Neverland Pirates: garbage. The bad guy on whatever movie we're watching: garbage. He doesn't like his lunch? Garbage. I. Hate. That. Word. At first I thought it was cute that he would throw stuff away in the garbage instead of the trash can ...but now that it's turned into this word, I can't take it! 

Yesterday morning,  Joe, Maverick and I were still asleep at the late hour of 5:30 am. Madison woke up, ran down the hall, swung Maverick's door open and yelled "AWAKE!!" while turning his light on. I could tell it was going to be an awesome day. They came into our room, I tried telling them to go play in their rooms--but that doesn't work so great. This morning Joe had to leave early for work, which meant that I could stay in bed however long I wanted because we wouldn't be waving 'bye' at the window. The kids woke up early, I told them to go play--and they actually did. For about 10 minutes. Its hard trying to sleep in when you're screaming down the hall to "share the toys! Be nice! Don't hit!" ...I ended up getting out of bed at 8:00--which is an improvement from our daily routine, but I certainly wasn't sleeping until then. I thought that once the "baby stage" was over I'd get more sleep?! Nope. I think that's what these kids do: they make you so sleep deprived that you're like a zombie throughout the day, then fight and fight and fight until you reach your breaking point.

Exactly. 

I know that this is all part of raising siblings--they fight and drive each other crazy, and when they're older they become best friends. Can we fast forward a few years? No, I'm kidding.. but really. I love the stages that they are both in--individually. Maverick is so smart and I cant believe he is starting kindergarten next year (2014). He is so cute and is constantly making me laugh. He's going to be amazing. Madison may throw fits non-stop, but when she takes breaks from throwing herself on the ground crying, shes actually really cute. We are just wrapped around her little finger--and it seems like anyone who comes in contact with her is the same. She'll be rolling around on the floor screaming for whatever reason, then stand up, compose herself, walk over to you and say "Mommy, you're my best friend. You're so pretty.. I'm really pretty too. I love you." Its just insanely cute. However, that screaming/cute ratio is about 90:10--so we try to enjoy it while it lasts. 

The kids are actually playing nice right now as I type this. Its always funny when we're going somewhere they're excited about--they INSTANTLY turn into best friends so that they can be excited together. "Hey, do you guys want to go get some frozen yogurt?" "YES! I love you Madison! Want to hold my hand?" "I love you too bubbas! You're my best friend!" Every. Time. Joe and I always laugh--its pretty funny to watch.

I always say that their age difference is what makes it difficult, but honestly I don't think it really matters. Siblings fight regardless of what their age gap is. 12 months, 24 months, 5 years difference--they'll still fight. Maybe not as much, but I don't think there's a way to avoid it. I guess the best you can do is sit back and brace yourself for the wild ride--and constantly remind yourself that it wont always be like this. Joe's cousin told us that he heard kids have "on and off years" --either odd or even. I think it depends on your kid whether they are good on the odd-or-even years, but so far its proving true. Last year was an AMAZING year for us with the kids, and this year is just full of fights and tantrums. We are currently in an even year, with the kids being 2 and 4. We're hoping that that analogy is true--and we can't wait for next year's "off year" to get here. ;)