one deliberately provoking the other

When the kids are cranky, they'll pick a fight over anything. One common pattern: one will say some random word, the other will get pissed off, the first will repeat the word, etc. Here's how it goes:

DD: Moose slippers.
DS: Don't want moose slippers!
DD: Moose slippers.
DS: DON'T WANT MOOSE SLIPPERS!
DD: MOOSE SLIPPERS!!!

And so on. By the end, they're both screaming and crying.

It is so freakin' stupid, and I'm wondering what to do, if anything. I could let them go at it and just ignore (while my ears quietly start to bleed from all the whining). I could tell the aggressor to stop making their brother/sister mad. I could tell the victim to just ignore it. And then of course I don't know what will actually sink in at this age anyway.

So what would you do (or what do you do)?

 

Right there with ya Holly. And its *always* Ana screaming something randomly and then Meara screaming and crying about it. I usually tell Meara to just ignore Ana, and tell Ana to stop screaming. Then I tell them to go in different rooms and play. Of course I can't do that while driving in the car. For the lovely times it happens there, I turn up the tunes and start singing badly. Then they are both screaming at me, but hey at least they aren't fighting with each other. :crazy:

 

:headbang: OY! Mine repeat EVERYTHING each other says IF it gets a response from ME!!! Big fun!

Maybe try to distract them without calling attention to the situation at all? Not sure how hard that would be. I've been thinking about this since yesterday and have no great advice! I'm sorry!

 

Cooper tends to do this (to some extent) to Brooklyn. He likes to make this growling, screaming sound at her. He does it because he knows it annoys her. I usually just tell her to ignore him. It really hasn't helped all that much as she always ends up in tears. :unknw: Helping her ignore him by distraction usually causes it to pass by more quickly. Sorry, wish I had a better answer for you but, that tends to be how I deal with it. :blush:

 

I don't know, it's still going on, just at different levels.
"Ainswee said I'm not allowed to sing!"
So why are you letting her tell you what to do? Sing if you want.
"I DON'T WANT SHE TO SING!!!"
"But Mommy said I could sing!"
Waaahhhhh!!!

She's touching my chair is another popular favorite, both in the car and at the table. I don't know, all you can do really is tell the annoyee not to overreact, and tell the annoyer to do something else. Sorry I guess that wasn't very helpful.

 

So sometimes I lurk here to see what the future will bring. :catfight: Thank you, original poster. This was hilarious! :rotflmbo: My DH & I had a hearty laugh over the situation. BTW- DH suggests you say back "Deer mittins" in a loud voice. :yahoo:

Good luck!

 

This phase is in full force around here... I try to distract but honestly don't know what to do. It's crazy!! :gah:

 

Oooooh, this drives me bonkers!!!! :crazy: How I handle it depends on my mood. :blush: Sometimes I just snap and yell to knock it off. Other times I will divert. If they are in the throes of doing this I will call out "who wants to help me set the table" or whatever I could possibly need help with at the moment. But man oh man this gets right under my skin.

 

oh yea....with my house its Ian who thinks he's the ruler of the world...

Ian: "mommy I don't want Abby to play with HER toy"
Abby: "I'm playing with my toy" (said in a sing song ha ha in your face voice)
Ian: "NOOOOOOOOOO YOU CAN'T PLAY WITH YOUR OWN TOY" and proceeds to shove Abby
Abby: "MOOOOMMMMY Ian pushed me"
Me: "Ian - did you push your sister"
Ian "I love you mommy - do you know that"

ad naseum...

 

I would run away screaming :headbang: :lol: Sometimes I tell them to knock it off and sometime I ignore it.

 

:rotflmbo: That would be a way to distract! I can just see my two stareing at me as if I have lost my mind. :ibiggrin:

 

We have a similar situation going on. One says a random object then they proceed to argue about who's it is.

Mason - "Chair"
Logan - "My chair"
Mason - "My chair"
Logan - "Mommy's chair"
Mason - "Daddy's chair"
Logan - "No your chair"

This can go on awhile. It's also started by the random declaration of "My turn" not sure yet for what, but it is most certainly not the other one's turn.

Sorry, I have no advice. Hoping to try some the other ladies have suggested.

 

I try to tell them to walk away from each other. If they refuse, sometimes (depending on the situation and what else I'm in the middle of) I will pick one up and just carry her into another room. It's amazing how often that causes them to forget what they were fighting about (at least, it worked when they were a bit younger -- not so much anymore).

They also teach "walk away" at preschool, so I try to reinforce that. I will also say things like "You don't have to listen to her" and "You can't make someone stop talking," etc. -- but I've been saying that for 2+ years and it doesn't seem to have sunk in yet.

Distraction (something along the lines of "deer mittens") or acting really silly can also work, sometimes.

Recently, I've started simply saying "If there's any more fighting, I'm going to" (put the toy away, stop the car, turn around and not go to the library, etc.) The problem is that sometimes that only gets one of them to stop, which leaves me with a dilemma as to whether to carry out the consequence.

Kelly, I cracked up at "I DON'T WANT SHE TO SING." :rotflmbo: We get that singing business too -- especially at bedtime.

 

Jessy is always attacking or bossing jazzy around. For being 6lbs lighter she can sure take out jazz. I usually end up seperating them