Today the kids were starting to get at each other in the van, so we started a silence contest. Christian was out first after making shooting noises as we passed a field full of wild turkeys. Anna, my little chatterbox, can hardly stand to be silent, so she was out next after she blurted, "Hey Mom, look..." about something she saw out the window.
Unfortunately, the anger and crying from the losers over the "unfairness" of the silence contest was almost worse than the chaos that preceded it. Christian tried to blame Ehren because Ehren was "hunting" the turkeys with his finger, so he "started it." Anna said it wasn't fair that I eliminated time-outs during this contest because how was she supposed to tell me important things? With the blaming and the excuses, the worst of human nature was on display.
Despite all the dissention in the van, Ehren stayed silent all the way home. When we pulled into the garage, he got his prize, a Tic Tac, which he promptly gave to Anna to comfort her. When we got in the house, he asked me if there was anything he could do to earn another treat (yes, we still have Halloween candy). In my mind, I was questioning his motives a little. I thought, maybe he didn't like the Tic Tac and gave it to Anna so he could get something different. Anyway, I told him he could go vacuum his bedroom if he wanted to earn another treat. Meanwhile, Christian was adamant that he didn't want to go outside to play until Ehren went outside, so he sat on the couch while Ehren vacuumed upstairs. Ehren finished the job and chose a small box of Nerds out of the treat bucket. He walked right over to Christian and handed him the Nerds.
Apparently while they were walking into the house, Ehren secretly told Christian that he would get a treat for him, and he even asked him what kind he wanted. Ehren is so much like his dad in this way. He doesn't comfort with words, but with deeds. I don't know how they secretly worked out these details in the seconds it took to get from the van to the house, but it was a good ending to a bad car ride.
Lest you think only Ehren is the thoughtful one, Christian chose Nerds because he could share them with Ehren and Anna. Sometimes the kids' kindness to each other catches me at the most unexpected moments.
Geez.... how did you get such nice kids!? And he just goes upstairs and vacuums his room, without whining about how hard it'll be, or how that's SO much work for one little treat.....wow. I'm giving it away for free too often, I think. Nobody appreciates anything around here.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like that all the time! Just trying to remember the good stuff.
ReplyDelete