Hugs, Kisses and Time-Outs

Well, its our first day in our home as a family of five. Kiss count...32. Time Outs...5 (3 for Andru, 2 for Ethan) As long as the ratio is in that favor, I will gladly count it as a good day. 

We have our Christmas miracle. Our boys are home, and we are all under one roof for the time being. They love the house, and they think they love the snow, although they have lasted a whopping total of six minutes playing in it. Gabbi is in heaven--she now has built-in playmates and co-conspiritors. There were amazing moments today--and some really tough ones. The boys love each other. They love the same toys, the same movies and the the same clothes. This makes them both incredibly easy to please and very difficult to mediate. There were fights over Legos, fights over the bathroom, fights over who had said what and when. Andru likes to blame and reprimand his brother--he has been the boss for so long, it is going to be a long road to letting that role go. Ethan wants to follow the example of his big brother, but both of them want to be a part of this family. There is no doubt of that, and that is what will save all of us in this process. 

There is one moment that saved today. Gabbi was changing into one of five dress-up outfits that she wore all day (she settled most frequently on the bumblebee costume) and Andru went to her room to ask if she wanted to play. For the next hour, my three children played in Gabbi's room by her kitchen. They played their parts and dutifully sat at Gabbi's tiny chairs and ate invisible food off of pink plates with peeling princess stickers. I sat at the bottom of the stairs and smiled. My children like each other. Its a big deal.

There are lots of moments I could talk about that shed light on the more difficult aspects of this---rolled eyes and little lies---but its not worth it. I know that these moments will pass, and , as a very wise friend reminded me, everyone has those moments, even with children they have raised since birth. We will get past this. We will be a happy, connected family. Come to think of it, we already are.

Stay tuned...