Exquisitely Painful Negotiations

As many of you can attest, the negotiation skills that having multiple children requires can be exhausting. Refrains of “he got a bigger piece,” or “hey, she gets to stay up later than me” echo endlessly in my ears. Today it was Bri got more playdates this week. I mention that he had one Tuesday and will have another on Thursday and Friday. The refrain shifts to well, she got to have playdates alone with a friend, and when he has playdates sometimes Lizzy or the rest of us come along.

I forbear from asking, “How often do I get ‘alone playdates?'” Answer: not often, usually I bring four little people along with me. And I try to dredge up some patience for this conversation.