In this corner..Landon!

This Mama is having a bad morning. I have been craving peace, quiet, and organization for the past few weeks...needless to say I am NOT getting it! Nor will I likely get it in the next 10 years thanks to the clever seemed like a good idea at the time 18 month spacing between our 2 children. My house is a MESS! It is driving me insane. I clean, over and over, every single day. Picking up the same toys, washing the same sippy cups, sweeping up pile after pile of smashed ritz crackers and cheerios. Got forbid Travis leave his ice cream bowl out from the night before, because having to load even one more dish in the dishwasher might send this Mama into a tail spin!

The weather outside has been clear but freezing. Too cold for the kids to play outside for more than 10 minutes. So they have been using their time cooped up in the house very constructively, learning and perfecting the fine art of FIGHTING! Yep, I said fighting. He is 2 1/2, she is 1...and the fighting has begun! Landon was, to my surprise, born with ninja like skills. If Brynne even attempts to touch one of his toys (or honestly even one of her own) he runs across the room so fast and grabs whatever it is right out of her hands. Thus resulting in blood curdling screams from our little princess. She follows Mama around screaming at the top of her lungs, expressing her frustration over Landon and his ninja moves. I have no idea how to deal with this. The "We don't grab from our sister, this is not kind." and the ever popular "Go sit on your bed until Mama comes and talks with you" lectures are falling on deaf ears. I feel like I am going crazy! How, in the span of 2 weeks, did my children's perfect storybook relationship turn into fighting, pushing, and screaming? You wanna know how? Santa Clause! Yep, that fat man in the red suit is responsible for the antics I am dealing with. He had to go and be all jolly and bring the kids new toys. Christmas + New Toys = Reason to fight. It's very scientific, I don't expect you all to understand. The same old boring toys that we had prior to December 25th were nothing special, definitely not something to run across the room and tackle your sister over. But now...the novelty has yet to wear off on all the new treasures. Brynne can't touch ANYTHING! What's worse? Her birthday is 2 weeks away. Brynne will have some new toys she never gets to touch to play with. I am sure this will go over well with Landon! How do you other mom's deal with this? I think their ages have a lot to do with it. It's hard to explain and expect sharing from a 2 year old.

Until your suggestions and solutions flood my comment box I am going to have some tea and watch tv while the kids nap. I am grateful for the both of them and wouldn't change anything! Sweeping crackers off the floor means we have food to fill our bellies. Washing sippy cups means that my children are healthy and growing thanks to the nourishment they get from 18 cups of milk a day. The endless laundry tells me that we are blessed to have clothes to wear. I will try to keep a positive attitude and hope that this phase will pass, but not tooooo quickly.