Oh, the Irony...

My boys are getting to be two independent thinkers. Well, the Elder has been for a while, but the Younger is really growing into his independence lately.

So, what do you get when you put my two boys in the same room, then walk away to do something trivial (like cook dinner, change the laundry or - Heaven forbid - use the bathroom)? Well, lately you get quite a bit of fighting.

And with the fighting comes yelling (& the occasional blood-curdling scream).

Have you ever had that out-of-body-mom-experience where you hear yourself saying something at the same time your kids hear you saying it & you can't believe you're saying that? (This situation is often - but not always- accompanied by that sudden realization that you sound exactly like one of your parents & you cringe & wonder when & how THAT happened.)

Well, I heard myself tonight:

"I can't stand the yelling. You guys are constantly yelling at each other & I can't take all the noise. You're both bright kids; I'm quite certain that you can work out your differences with calm & quiet voices. The yelling has got to stop. I can't think when you two carry on like that, so for the love of all things purple will you please stop the yelling?"

I know. This doesn't sound so bad, right? I was beginning to congratulate myself on my awesome parenting skills when I was hit full in the face with the irony.

I WAS YELLING THE WHOLE TIME!

Which might explain why my kids were looking at me as though I had just grown a daffodil out of my ear.