Love Hate Relationship

Just an example of kids being kids:

Today is Wednesday and we took our usual 20-30 minute trek to our church for Wednesday night dinner and Bible study. Half way there my girls in the back, 'R' & 'B', began arguing. It started as a simple disagreement and quickly escalated into a full out war. There was whining, tears, screaming, hitting, and some seriously evil stares & looks shared between them. (The kind of evil looks most of us would save for Saddam Hussein or someone of that caliber!)

What were they arguing about? They were in a dead lock over who was going to be the first to give the other a "kissing hand"!

("Kissing hand" comes from a book, The Kissing Hand, about a mother who kisses the inside of her son's hand before he leaves for school. Then when he misses her throughout the day, he can just place his palm to his cheek and feel his mom's kiss.)

Soooo, my girls were fighting over who would be the first to show the other affection. Not a precious book or toy. Not money. Not popularity or the love of a boy (God, help me for that!) They were arguing about giving each other a kiss!

This sounds like it should be a sweet thing - it sounds kind. But let me tell you the war that broke out because of this "kissing hand" could easily be placed in our top 10 worst fights! It took a lot of stern reprimand and verbal discipline from me to calm it down and it almost warranted a pulling-over-on-the-side-of-the-road correction. Luckily I thought about that consequence a little before using it, because what kind of terrible, hypocritical mom would I be to spank my children because they want to give each other a kiss!!!

Finally, the crying, huffing & puffing, and scary hatred looks ceased. I dictated who would go first. They each gave the other a kissing hand. Then as if a switch had been flipped, they immediately went back to laughing and playing!

Go figure!