Maybe it will wear out...

I know that we talk a lot, as women, about how we wear many hats. Mine include mom (of course), wife, cook, maid, sanitation worker (and how!), shopper, accountant, safety inspector, historian, and others. I know that this list is only going to grow as my boys get older. But there is one other hat that I seem to be wearing a lot more these days - referee. My boys are starting to fight more and more. Well, they only fight about one thing - who gets what. Jordan is playing with cars, Evan wants those cars. Evan has a snack, Jordan wants that snack. One has the ride-on bus so the other wants it (even though there is another ride-on toy right next to them!) I'm holding one, so the other needs to be held. Then the pushing starts and Evan, who has become quite the screamer, screams and then my little mimicker Jordan starts to scream because Evan is screaming, and soon we have full on chaos...many, many times a day. It is times like these that bring to my mind the conference talk by Elder Ballard that reminded young mothers that joy in motherhood comes in moments. Not these ones though...

So, I try my best to separate them, make them share, practice taking turns, and the like. Sometimes I decide they need to learn to work it out for themselves, which becomes a game of chicken to see who will cave first - will they stop first or will I just intervene to stop the screaming. In the end, I try to remember that they are two little boys who are excited about life and want to experience what the other is doing too. But, I hope that, like a real hat, the more I wear it the sooner it will wear out. Maybe they will learn how to solve these problems from me showing them so many times. Or maybe I will just have to throw it out when it wears out and they will figure it out on their own. I don't know. But for now, I will keep putting it on with all the others when needed.