heartfelt "I'm sorry and I should have listened". After almost 42 years, I'm taking the blinders off and finally admitting I do not in fact know everything. My nine year old informed me of that newsflash last night during our latest battle. It wasn't so much of a battle as it was a skirmish, but lately, a common occurance. And, since she does know everything and will argue until your ears bleed, things around the house are...how shall I say...testy. Yes, she's testing me and quite frankly, I do believe I am failing.Feared terminology like "Just wait until your father gets home" and "Don't make me come up there" are ineffectual against my little gang. When I was told "Because I said so!" I took the illogical reasoning in stride. I remember thinking it really wasn't a good reason, but I never said it out loud (I'll probably be corrected if I did). I mean, you can't argue with "Because I said so!" as that's the last line in parent/child arguing. Well, it used to be the last line. It was as if Katie had taken every childhood thought I'd had on the subject and threw it right back at me. She would not relent until she had either heard a logical reason as to why I had "said so" or had made my ears bleed.
She's also quite a little negotiator (what I'm really thinking is manipulator). I hear her
sometimes, bargaining with her sisters. Sydney is too much like her and seldom falls victim to Katie's schemes, but Sarah is too nice and a bit gullible. Katie convinced her to jam the wrong key into her bike's lock since 'in the world according to Katie' all keys fit all locks. It fit. It fit so well, half of the key broke off in the lock. If she and I hadn't already butted heads I probably would have laughed it off as I'm internally doing so now. Instead, I told her and Sarah they would have to pay for a new lock with their own money and to go to their rooms until dinner. Sarah ran upstairs and started counting her money. She hates conflict. Katie said she wanted me to return the Valentine present she had bought for me and she wished she was never part of this family. Ouch, she knows when to go for the heart. Yet, at bedtime, when the dust had settled and tempers had died down, I was suddenly the most popular person on her list. 
Sitting in the wings, watching with more delight in her sisters' turmoil than necessary was Sydney. She knows how to play these times. She's been in the hotseat and knows when Mom is at her breaking point. She's been a perfect angel...almost...as I've caught her giving Katie devilish sneers.
I had to do some even quicker than normal fast thinking because Sunday she'd lost a tooth and the Tooth Fairy didn't come. I explained since she hadn't placed her tooth under her pillow the Tooth Fairy probably thought she wanted to keep her tooth or that all of the fireworks had scared her off. Syd looked at me as if to say, "C'mon, Mom, really, you expect me to believe that?" but she carefully placed said tooth in the Tooth Fairy Pillow and placed that under her pillow and then kept her hands on the pillow until long after she'd fallen asleep. Lucky for me, Katie woke up around midnight to tell everyone she'd heard
the Tooth Fairy and was sure Sydney got some money. If she'd woken up at 11:58pm, she would have had something even bigger to tell everyone. Phew! Katie woke up again around 2am because of aliens attacking in her dreams.Sleep deprevation could have some effect on our behavior. The holiday fireworks seriously wreaked havoc on our systems. We've also hit the six months abroad wall, which, according to several books I've read, is significant. Homesickness, depression, irritability...After having such a great Christmas and then New
Year break, the high was bound to wear off.I've often thought if I read enough and study enough I'll learn it all. Heck, maybe even write a book. I think maybe I'm reading too much and instead I should concentrate on listening and absorbing. I might learn even more. God knows my girls have tons to teach me. I might even learn how in the world Larry and I ended up with three highly intelligent, extremely beautiful and ruthlessly tenacious almost tweens. It could be we're just lucky, I guess...tremendously lucky.
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