Parenting Tweens from Misery to Mermaids

There are many things about parenting that make me want to bang my head against a wall or just scream and walk away.  But, obviously the good outweighs the bad or humanity would cease to exist.  At the Dickerson house, we have many struggles and definitely don't have it all together like many of those other people with blogs and Facebook accounts.  Our daily struggles are real and real hard to appreciate and love.

One of our biggest daily struggles right now is the constant bickering and fighting among the girls.  Typically, Taylor is involved.  Yes, I posted about her mellow personality but that's only for "the real world".  At home, she can be quite the antagonizer.  And, in her defense, she is the middle child.  Kennedy is old enough to know that at her age (almost 12), it would be pretty ridiculous to argue with a 4 year old BADkid.  So, the 1147 times each day daily struggle is Kennedy vs. Taylor or Taylor vs. BADkid.

It's really amazing to m that at 6:00 A.M. each morning, when my oldest two girls have been awake for less than 45 seconds, they can find something to fight about.  Typically, it's one of them "in the way" of the other one.  They have an hour to get ready for school.  Neither of them requires more than 30 minutes total.  However, Taylor MUST be in the middle of the bathroom when Kennedy MUST be trying to put in her contacts.  Or if Taylor decides to eat breakfast first thing, she will definitely realize that Kennedy is in her seat at the table.  It doesn't matter, they are going to make sure that we leave home each morning with at least one "figure out how to get along" statement from an irritated mother.  I've grown as a parent--okay, maybe it's not growth, but growth sounds better than given up.  I just ignore them and pray that although they drive each other crazy, one day they will appreciate each other and defend each other when necessary.

And, guess what happened on Wednesday evening...

I asked Kennedy to do her chores before Chad got home from work.  In typical preteen fashion, she pretended to go through the motions.  As she was unloading the dishwasher, Taylor was reading through a Scholastic book order form.  Suddenly, they decided they could get along and share everything.  After several reminders to Kennedy that she had to do the dishes, I sent Taylor to her room to quit distracting Kennedy.  After redirecting Kennedy once again, I went out to the shop to check in with BADkid and Chad.

Upon my return to the house, I was greeted with a "Mom, look what we made up!"  Based on the excessive amount of giggles and smiles from both of them, I figured their project was probably video worthy.  And honestly, I wanted tangible proof to remind them that they DO love each other.

Amazing!  They can get along and work together when the goal is to avoid chores!  I've never truly appreciated the artistry of The Little Mermaid like I do now.