Thursday, February 09, 2006

Everybody's Kung Fu Fighting!

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting,
Those kids were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit fright'ning,

But they fought with expert timing...
--Carl Douglas

Last night I was sitting on the couch and Riley was sitting next to me on my left. She was hitting my arm repeatedly.

"Stop doing that," I warned.

"I will if you build me another castle [with couch pillows]," she offered.

"No, just stop it," I said as I turned to look at Lucy, who was standing in front of me, yelling.

I reached over and lifted her onto my lap, "Do you want to snuggle on the couch, too?" I asked.

Lucy didn't answer, rather she reached over to Riley and started smacking her on the top of the head. I pulled her back and began to reprimand her.

"No hitting, Lucy..." I said as I was restraining her arms. She was sitting on my lap facing Riley to my left. I was trying to pin her arms to her sides and as I was trying to tell her that that's not how we behave, Riley shot her right foot out straight into Lucy's torso and Lucy went flying. I'm talking arms outstretched, legs out flying. I threw my leg out and caught her with my ankle, then reached out and grabbed her. I couldn't believe how far she flew!

Of course, Riley was sent to the penalty box (the bottom of the stairs) to sit and think about what she did. Lucy was fine and barely remembered that she had been kicked squarely in the torso. Doc and I took Lucy upstairs to start a bath and I told Riley as we climbed the stairs that she was to sit there until she was ready to apologize.

A few minutes later as I was drawing a bath, Riley came to the door, apologized to Lucy and was fine. They had a peaceful bath and went to bed soon afterwards. I was pleased to see everyone move on in such fine fashion. But I was also a bit unsettled by the unbridled violence my children display upon occasion. Perhaps their bearings are off-kilter as we begin to pack and move. Perhaps they were cranked up and were on a collision course with violence all evening. After all, they were being a bit rowdy and disrespectful for an hour or so up until the fight scene.

Note to self: when Kung Fu Fighting seems imminent, try to divert the children to more constructive activities.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ah, the many roles of a parent. Referee was never my favorite. But, get used to it. It will happen again and again and again as they grow up. Then you can add biting and hair pulling too. Maybe you should consider a Karate class for Riley. Most places starting kids as young as four. It will teach her when to kick like that and better ways to communicate with her sister.

Thursday, February 09, 2006 12:08:00 PM

 
Blogger T said...

A good class will, yes. You need to be careful to really interview the place you are taking your children for a martial arts type class.

But I completely agree, a good instructor can teach discipline, and technique. I believe a bad instructor will only teach how to kick harder, and what happens outside of class, happens outside of class.

Thursday, February 09, 2006 11:04:00 PM

 
Blogger don'tneedtoknow said...

Princess,

I know you're not the one bringing up karate here, but if you ever would be interested, my cousins take karate and I could find out where they go.

Although, I see Riley being more interested in dance classes and Lucy driven towards music.

Thursday, February 09, 2006 11:32:00 PM

 
Blogger Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

Thanks for all the Karate advice. I'm not sure, karate is for my girls...maybe Kung Fu. I took Kung Fu and found it to be fun and not as aggressive.

But, I'm sure Riley could put those quick legs to use in an Irish dancing class or tap. She needs to stomp.

It's too soon to tell with Lucy. Although she has incredible balance. She stood on top of a stack of 4 couch pillows and surfed on the top one for minutes at a time. Not bad for a 22 month old. How about lumberjack camp?

Friday, February 10, 2006 2:17:00 PM

 
Blogger Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

Big Orange, I am constantly on the look out for behavior problems. This particular time, I was enjoying being rowdy with them. They were yelling at me I was yelling at them, but in a fun way. We were horsing around and it got out of hand. I knew it would too, I just need to blow off some steam myself.

Anyway, all's well that ends well, I guess.

Friday, February 10, 2006 2:19:00 PM

 
Blogger Raven said...

Having many girls they occasionally start on the slapping thing when they get ticked at each other. I was tired of playing referee constantly so I finally started charging them...$5 a pop...litterally. The first $15 they learned to stop. Just an idea for when your's get older.

Sunday, February 19, 2006 10:20:00 AM

 

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