Even the best advice can go awry

My dear friend Chris sent me an article about ways to discourage sibling rivalry, which I then turned into ways to torture my children.

Case in point:

Today after the kids got home from school, Sara asked if she could have a ring pop leftover from Valentine's Day. I had no problem with that, so I said yes.

A few minutes later, Tucker wanted one. Of course, there weren't any more.

Cue bickering.

I looked over to find Tucker sitting on the kitchen counter and Sara standing in front of him yelling.

Aaaaaaaaaaand then she bit his foot.

No, I'm not kidding.

So as he walked by, he took a swipe at her and slapped her arm.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no! That's not okay on any level - from either of them. (But seriously, Sara? Biting his foot? Gross!)

I made them come into the living room and told Sara she was going to have to say something nice about Tucker.

She refused. Tucker wanted to watch TV. I said no, so they were both upset.

The deal about making them say something nice about each other is this: the person who is the first offender has to go first.

Sara is really, really bad at this.

So bad, in fact, that after five minutes, she has to say two somethings nice. Every two minutes after that if she  still refuses (because as she puts it, 'I caaaaaaaaannnnnnn'tttttttt chooooooooooooooooooooooose'), one more nice thing gets added.

Tonight it got up to 15 somethings.

And no, I'm not kidding.

The bonus part of this is that by the time it's finally over, they dislike me waaaay waaaaay more than they dislike each other so their compliments and 'I love you's' are much more sincere.

So in certain ways, not only does the advice work, it's a bonding experience.

And of course, blog fodder.