Teamwork!

(They look so innocent don't they?)

It's finally happening.  I wondered when it would start.  Now I know.

They are teaming up against me.

Yesterday, Sarah was super whiny.  Extra whiny.  It was painful.  As she was in full drama mode I started thinking about how often she has been whining lately and about how she is SEVEN years old and about how neither of the other kids whines like she has been and I just started to lose my mind.  She can be very dramatic.  You all know this to be true...I can imagine you nodding in agreement as I type.

My solution?  I started granting wishes.  

I told her that every time she whines I would grant one wish for Paige or Nate.  Paige and Nate LOVED my plan.  Sarah, of course, instantly started whining about my plan and Paige was instantly granted a wish.  

Paige wished for a box of Hot Tamales.  Easy enough.  Wish granted. (It is Halloween after all.  We have this sort of thing in the house!) Oh, the sadness!  Oh, the happiness!  Oh, the silence.  Oh, how I love it when a plan comes together.

Flash forward to the next morning...  

Sarah asks me what happens if Paige whines.  Will Sarah get a wish? What if Nate whines?  So, in my sleepy state I agree to a complex system of whine induced wish granting and shuffle off to the shower.

Three minutes into my shower Sarah pops in to tell me that Paige was whining.  I tell her that Sarah's tattle telling voids Paige's whining and now they are even -- no wish granted.  Amen.  Go away.  Let me take my shower.  Sarah says, "Aw, Man!" and walks away.

Three minutes later I hear them chattering amongst themselves:  "If you whine, I'll get a wish and if I whine, she'll get a wish and if she whines, you'll get a wish ..." and I could just hear the little light bulbs clicking on in their clever little heads.  I knew it right then and there. They figured it out.  They had the power to be sneaky.  They could potentially trick me.  They were thrilled.  Their little mouths were salivating with the mere thought of all of the Hot Tamales waiting for them downstairs.

What they didn't know is that Mommy can tell the difference between a real whine and a fake whine.  So, although they tried, they failed. However, now they know that they can try.  Their skills will only improve from here.  I'm going to have to watch out ...