There aren’t many things more defeating on a Monday morning than a phone call from your kid’s school stating that your son punched his sister, not once, but TWICE, as they were getting off the bus. And, in the process, he elbowed another kid in the face because that kid was trying to hold him back from going at his sister.

I’m Amber Lee and this is the story of how my 3rd grader got suspended.

A couple months ago, my husband and I noticed that the typical sibling rivalry between our kids ( we have a 12yo girl & 9yo boy) had gone from bad to worse. Gone were the days of bickering over who got to use the shower first and whether the toilet seat was left up. Our kids had escalated to slamming doors, yelling at each other and throwing the other’s things around the room. At our house, every dinner table discussion had turned into my husband and I playing referee for yet another argument between the kids.

“We speak with kindness in this house. We raised you to be respectful of others, even if you disagree. You are better than this. You are stronger than giving in to his/her nagging. Your words are powerful. We love watching you play together. Someday you’ll be each other’s best friends.”

We sat at parent teacher conferences last week telling the kid’s teachers we thought their fighting was going to morph into something more. And sure enough it did!

Monday’s “incident” all started with our daughter hanging her backpack on top of our sons. He got mad, assuming she did it purposely to push his buttons (which she is extremely good at, by the way). He tossed her backpack on the floor. She yelled at him. He yelled back at her even louder and without Mom & Dad in the room, she sneaked in a punched to his stomach.

Tears.

More Yelling.

More Tears.

Even More Yelling.

Once that situation is settled, or so we thought it was, we send the kids off on the school bus.

Turns out our son wasn’t over it. He wanted revenge. He was sick of feeling like the little brother that always gets picked on behind Mom & Dad’s backs. So he sat on that bus, simmering and stewing over the fight from earlier that morning.

As the kids stood up to get off the bus, our son sprung his rage all over his sister’s face.

Even as a united front, I’m not sure my husband and I have the skills, or the patience, to deal with this on our own. WE’RE SO TIRED OF THE FIGHTING!!!

Here’s where I need your help, your advice, your parenting wins & losses…. now what do we do?