It's Never Okay to Hit...Or Is It

My two oldest girls are alike in so many ways. Their personalities are much more like mine than my husband's. They are dynamically verbal (i.e. won't shut up), dramatic (we are constantly being entertained), and smart (well OF COURSE that came from me;).

However, as alike as they are, they are also extremely different. Aubrey is much more laid back. While Addison thinks the world is going to end just because she doesn't get dessert. Aubrey is the typical first child and eager to please. While Addison's philosophy is "Here I am like it or not"! Aubrey avoids controversy. While Addison creates it. You get the picture (Aubrey is on the left on her knees and Addison is on the right).

With that being said, it is amazing how well they get along. They rarely fight and when they do the punishment of having to be away from each other is almost too much to bare. Although there are times in which I feel the need to call in a referee to blow the whistle and stop the play due to a foul.

Said foul occurred today: an illegal hit! The girls were playing with the big Lego blocks (best buy ever)and they began to argue about how to build the house. When Addison said she wanted to do it a certain way, Aubrey informed her "too bad", which is shocking because Aubrey pretty much does whatever Addison wants. This would be the point when Addison pretty much told her who was boss by slapping her across the face.

Aubrey rushed into the bathroom to tell me, which is indicative of what happens every time I am in the bathroom (see previous post on my super power of magnetism). I called Addison to me and told her it was never okay to hit and that she needed to go sit in time out, at which time she informed me that she had already put herself in time out and had been sitting there when I called her into the bathroom:)

So when I told my husband about the incident he just shook his head. Then he made a shocking proclamation, "Maybe we should just tell Aubrey to hit her back. I mean, she is the bigger sister maybe it is time she stood up for herself. If she would just knock Addison to the ground one good time, maybe Addison would learn her lesson". We thought about it for a moment and then remembered another time when we told Addison to hit back.

They were 2 and 4, and Addison had jerked something away from her sister. When Aubrey grabbed for it, Addison pushed her. Aubrey started crying, and we were so tired of it that we (unwisely now in retrospect) told her to hit her back. Of course she was so scared of hurting her little sister that she barely grazed the other munchkin's arm. That is when Addison drew back and scratched her across the face. As horrible as it was and as we felt, we could not help but giggle behind our hands as we disciplined Addison.

So now here we are again. Tempted to teach one child a lesson by using the other one. The lesson:It is Never Okay to Hit...Or Is It? There could possibly be a time when it is okay. However, given how feisty Addison is and how accurate she is with her left hook, it might definitely be unwise.