This whole mother thing is not for the faint of heart...

Behind every good kid is a mother who's sure she's screwing it up.  I keep seeing that on Facebook lately.  It's hitting home this week.  Little brother thinks he rules the roost.  I knew it was only a matter of time before big brother realized he's bigger than little brother and doesn't put up with it anymore.  The time has come.  So lots of fighting there.  Big sister is one fabulous girl.  Unfortunately, she inherited her father's Irish temper and her mother's German temper.  She doesn't stand a chance in the losing-the-temper department.  And even though I understand that the temper totally comes from me and the fact that I can lose it with the kids too easily,  it's still my job to teach her that she needs to at least try to control it.  *sigh*  Not going so hot this week.  She has had everything but her bed removed from her room.  And honestly I think she only has the bed because Husband didn't want to move it to the storage room and then move it back.  Little sister has always hated it when big sister acts like she's in charge.  Huge pet peeve of hers.  But little sister has now reached the magical age where she feels she can be in charge of her brothers.  They like it about as much as she likes big sister doing the same thing.  So lots of yelling and fighting there.  At the end of most days, I feel like I'm failing completely.  Oh, I know I'm not really.  But it feels like that a lot.  It's usually so much better when Husband is home because it's just an extra teammate.  He really does help so much!  Yesterday became too much for both of us.  Yuck.  But Husband is better at turning things around than me.  He really wanted to end on a positive note, so after dinner we played duck duck goose with the kids.  They loved it.  Little brother doesn't actually say goose.  You just have to listen for the inflection in his voice that indicates he's meaning to tag you.  Poor husband misses it every time we play, and little brother dissolves into tears in a heap on the floor every time.  It's really becoming quite comical.  We eventually calm him down and continue with the game.  It was nice to end on a good note.  I married a good man, my friends.  Which is good, 'cuz the whole mother thing isn't easy.