Israel! Palestine! LISTEN UP!

STOP IT WITH THOSE LOOKS, ALREADY! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR FACES TO FREEZE THAT WAY?

You two are brothers, for goodness sakes. I know you can think of something. Three somethings.

And then I want you to each write three MORE things that you think you can do, yourself, that would help you both get along and share your toys. Mommy and Daddy gave you BOTH those toys, remember? Trust me, its not that hard, you two are smart enough to figure this out. And if you don’t, I am going to take ALL your toys away, and neither of you will have anything to play with. Understood?

AND, I AM NOT GOING TO SET THE TIMER THIS TIME! I don’t care if it takes you ‘til Kingdom Come! You two are going to sit in those corners until you finish writing your lists! Do you hear me?

THAT WILL BE “YES, MA’AM,” PLEASE!

That’s better, thank you.

Now, I am going to give you each a little bell. When you have finished your list, you can ring it, and I will come and look over what you wrote and we will talk about it. You are not allowed to speak or get up ‘til then! Just ring the bell when you are done. Understood?

I TOLD YOU BEFORE – BECAUSE I AM THE MOM.

Thank you.

Now, one more thing. I want you boys to know that I love you. Both of you. I don’t love your behavior, sometimes, especially when you fight. But behavior is not the same as the person. So I can be very, VERY upset with your behavior, like I am now, but I can still love you, and the person I know that you really are, inside.

And some people can do very mean and nasty things when they are mad or scared, but that doesn’t mean their Mama doesn’t love them. She just wishes they would act nicer. 

Do you understand? Well, you will, when you have children of your own, if you don’t kill each other first.

I know that each one of you has your own special, creative gifts. Remember when you two used to color beautiful pictures that I hung on the refrigerator? Your artwork made Momma and Poppa so happy. And you both had fun when you were making art together. Think about that. Maybe that’s a little clue for you, about how to get along.

I am going to be in the kitchen, baking chocolate chip cookies for good little boys. You ring your bell when you are ready.

OK, go on, now – oops, tie those shoelaces, first, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.

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