Brotherly Love. . .

at its very finest was displayed on my living room floor last night. Oh, me. . .

The little guy to the left may look sweet, but don't be fooled!! He is quite dangerous. . .

When I found out that JCT was a boy, I promised myself that our home would not be a typical "boy" home. My boys would be under control and kind to one another. We would not have fighting and wild indians running and jumping on furniture.

I had one thing going for me. . . My oldest, the leader of my children, is sweet, loving, and, for the most part, very gentle. When we brought JCT home from the hospital, Joshua adored him, kissed him, patted him, loved on him. The kind of sweetness that warms a mother's heart to the very core. Somewhere along the line, Joshua may have hit JCT. I don't remember the incident, but if it did happen, I am certain that I nipped it in the bud. And, Joshua is quite compliant, so if he hit JCT, it most likely happened only once.

Well. . .that was very nice while it lasted. There was a first in our household last night - our first fight. And, it wasn't at all what I expected. We had just come home from church. Joshua had a small part in the Operation Christmas Child children's musical at church. He did great up on stage, and his mama was so proud. Erik had a deacon's meeting, so I brought the boys home from church by myself. I let them play alone in the living room while I went to the bathroom to wash my face. This all seemed very routine - until I turned the water off and heard some commotion coming from the the other room. So, I followed the noise. And, what did I find. . .

My 21 month old was straddling my 3 year old hitting him over and over in the face, hard.

Shock. Horror. In one instant my home had changed. I had not seen this side of JCT. He was quite angry. In a cloud of disbelief, I crossed the living room to rescue my 3 year old. JCT was still sitting on Joshua's stomach, and as I got closer, he stopped hitting Joshua for a second. But, before I could get to him, JCT grabbed Joshua's nose between his thumb and his pointer finger and pinched it as hard as he could. Ouch.

When I finally got to them (all of this was happening in slow motion - at least it felt that way), I pryed JCT off his brother, spanked his "hitting and pinching" hand, and sent him to time-out. Then, I helped Joshua up off the floor - only to find that he was bleeding. JCT, with all his hits, had burst his big brother's lip! So, I took Joshua to the bathroom and sat him on the counter. I put a cool rag on his lip and had a little talk with him.

It seems that Joshua was trying to put the Little People farm on top of JCT, and JCT didn't like that idea. . . obviously. I explained to Joshua that if JCT ever did this again he should get up off the floor. "You are bigger than he is. You were right to not hit him back. Hitting is wrong. But, baby, get up off the floor. You don't have to lay there and let him hurt you." Now, truth be told, Joshua never cried. And, to be quite honest, I think he enjoyed the whole thing - even getting hit. He certainly enjoyed watching his little brother get in trouble.

I had a little talk with JCT. Apologies and hugs were given and received. And, once again my house was in order, peace and love restored. After both boys were in bed, Erik called to let me know that he was on his way home. I gave him a play by play of the evening's events. This may or may not surprise you. . . he loved it, savoring every detail, asking a multitude of questions. The pride was quite evident in his voice. I believe his exact words were, "That is AWESOME!!! I've GOT to call my brother." I hung up the phone stunned not only by my husband's response, but I was still feeling a little shell-shocked by the events of the evening. I am just glad that it was JCT hitting Joshua instead of some other child. Because had it been any other little boy straddling and hitting my son in the face, mama bear would have come out in full force with great vengence (scary). Thankfully, as I watched my youngest son release his anger on my eldest, I did not forget who he is. I remembered that he is the adorable little boy who runs at me from across the room to give me a huge bear hug. He is the little guy who smiles brightly in his highchair while eating his banana like the rest of the world eats corn on the cob. I love him so much that I didn't freak out and unleash my mama bear vengence on him!

Another lesson for me. . . a wake up call in raising boys. . . they will be boys no matter what I do. Their aggressiveness is innate, God-given, and, though it must be channeled, it is not necessarily wrong. And, so this girly girl's journey in raising little boys and learning something new from them each day continues. . .

Taking a picture of Joshua's lip was his father's idea. I would prefer to forget the entire episode, but Erik insisted that I write this post and have a picture to go with it.

The pictures of them hugging. . . now that was my idea.