Working Together

In case you haven’t noticed, I have four kids.
FOUR.
Now, I don’t know how many of you have siblings.  Probably most of you.  I have a sister.  I love my sister!  But we DID NOT always get along growing up.  If you have siblings, I’m certain you didn’t either.
But I only had ONE sibling. 
My kids each have THREE siblings.  That’s three other kids who are constantly around you to take your stuff, want what you have, invade your personal space, and agravate you ON PURPOSE JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN. 
So when they all four came together and actually built a structure TOGETHER without a single child getting his feelings hurt, with no fighting, no fussing, no whining or crying, NOT ONE SINGLE UNHAPPY MOMENT FROM START TO FINISH!!! 
It was worth taking a picture.  I present my simultaneously pleasant children and their Monument to Sibling Peace Everywhere.

PS—I feel certain that shortly after this picture was taken they all jumped up to knock the monument down, during which time Zachary stepped on a block and commenced wailing, Thomas made a sudden leap of spasmodic excitement, accidentally punching Reagan in the stomach, and she fell over screaming and knocked Jonathan into the side of the couch.  Everyone was yelling, and no one said he or she was sorry.
I did not feel the need to take a picture of THAT.

Masters of Destruction

I have some melmac (or melamine) dishes that I absolutely love! Actually, I have two sets. One was my mom’s and the other was her mom’s. What I love about them is that they are so durable. We use them every day, and I can put them in the dishwasher and not have to worry about them chipping. They are practically indestructible! Otherwise, they wouldn’t have lasted this long!

They are NOT, however, completely indestructible. Like a diamond that can only be scratched by another diamond, a melmac dish pounded by a three-year-old wielding another melmac dish will break. I know this because I now have one less bowl than I used to.

And Thomas found out the answer to the burning question, “What will happen if I pound these two bowls together?”

Alas.