Losing Control

It appears that within the last 24 hours I have lost control of my children. I have no idea what happened, but the situation appears to be dire.

SIBLING RIVALRY: A few months after Emma was born, I came up with the brilliant idea to have another baby. They would be close in age and bestest of friends. And normally I am congratulating myself on my plan and ingenuity as they generally play well together. But this morning. . . Emma was walking out of the kitchen when Macey was walking in. There was not even a collision -- both girls corrected their paths and it should not have been a big deal. But it was. Emma told Macey to BE CAREFUL! And Macey told Emma to WATCH WHERE SHE WAS GOING. And I shook my head. So much for my brilliant plan.

MCDONALDS BULLY: I hate being at McDonalds when there are a lot of big kids. There's always a bossy bully who is just not careful with the little ones who are just trying to play. Where are their mothers? Why aren't they taking control of the situation? Well, today, I was that mother as Emma made her debut as the playground bully. She blocked the kids on the stairs, in the tunnel, and on the slide, and she would not let them pass until they said a magic word. Apparently it's called the Gate Game, and we had to have a long talk on the way home about how the Gate Game is only fun if EVERYONE wants to play.