Look, a chicken!

Family vacation has been this week, the first time we've all gone to the beach together.  It's been great!  Gorgeous sunsets, sand between our toes (and other less comfortable places), and lots of quality time together. 

G and K did pretty well, all things considered.   Two only children adapting to not being the center of attention at all times...quite the adventure! ;-)  All you people with more than one child are probably giggling to yourselves, but I'll just state the obvious:  having one kid is WAY easier than two.   All things require compromise, and only children are not famous for their skills at compromise.  Their idea of compromise is to make a proclamation and then wait for someone to "make it so" - they'll compromise on how long it takes for their demand to become a reality.  The adjustment period for our kids is still underway.  It brings back memories of me and my step-brother and how we learned to get along.  We're very close now, but I think it took years, my poor parents!  Now I have serious empathy for them.

Carl is better at dealing with it than I am.  I get worn out by the constant bickering and have considered a transaction with gypsies to resolve the situation.  Carl on the other hand tries to distract them from whatever the issue is - his joke distraction is always "look a chicken" - which oddly enough tends to work...the kids know its a joke, but they also know this is their queue to  resolve their issue quickly before the grown-ups break in and resolve it for them. 

I really appreciate his patience, and if the kids don't appreciate it, they should...I've got the phone number for the gypsies on speed dial.