Ultimate King of the Hill

We are really loving all the snow. Greg was complaining last week that it was starting to look dirty outside and that we just needed some new snow to make everything look white and fresh again. Well, we got about 8 to 9 inches and a snow day on Tuesday. Everything looks gorgeous. This morning the trees are covered in a thick layer of frost, so it's extra beautiful out.

The other great part of all the snow is clearing the driveway. We have a tractor with a bucket, so Greg makes big piles of snow at the end and along the side of the driveway. These piles are great for sliding on, climbing on, and hollowing out. They are not good for the temptation of "Ultimate King of the Hill" which means whoever is on top, throws everyone else off and into people, or surrounding trees. Kicking and hitting are completely allowed, and jumping on the heads of anyone approaching is encouraged. I know we are terrible parents because we have outlawed King of the Hill at our house. We are "buzzkill" parents...it's true...but I must do it for the safety of all. Devon and Ethan both tend to get riled up and take things to the extreme and really have a "fight to the death" mentality when it comes to this game. Josiah and Sydney could handle nicely pushing each other down and having a fun time of it, but we would prefer that all our children live through snow games or come out of them without permanent paralysis.

So, since our snow day 4 days ago, we have said at least 2 or 3 times a day that King of the Hill is not OK. Yes we give the same directions over and over and over and over, and some of our children still ignore the rules...not all, but some. I came home from work yesterday about 15 minutes after the kids got home. They were instructed to play outside until I got home. And guess what game they were playing? You guessed right! I came home to 2 kids crying, 1 kid smirking, and 1 doing something completely different and following the rules. (Yes, Josiah...aka The Golden Child)

I have not even gotten out of the van when I am hit with a deluge of words from the mouths of all 4 kids. I am hearing things like, "I almost died", "Devon is trying to kill me", "It's not my fault!", "I didn't go it", "My head was banging on the tree.". "Ethan made me fall down." "Sydney slid right into me.", "Ethan jumped on me." These are the only words I could really make out over the tears, crying and yelling. So we all came in the house, hung up school stuff and sat silently, criss-cross apple sauce on the floor in the living room. (Sydney was still getting her boots off, Ethan had to go to the bathroom, Devon needed a drink because he was so parched) So really the golden child sat quietly on the floor.

Once we were situated, the story comes out that Ethan wanted to play "Ultimate King of the Hill" and Sydney and Devon were just being wonderful siblings because they wanted to make Ethan happy. (Aren't they sweet!) So we reviewed the rules calmly, talked about safety calmly, asked how we could solve the problem calmly. And in the end, it was decided that the kids who played the outlawed game were grounded from video games and TV for the week for their poor choices.

The best part comes when Devon let's me know that it's not fair, nor is it his fault. (It never is) Because he was just trying to be a good brother (By smashing Ethans' head into a tree.) It's also not fair because the winter olympics start tonight and he wanted to watch them. It's definately not fair because he will be 16 before the Winter Olympics are here again. Sadly for Devon, my heart was not moved by his sentiments of unfairness and the ruling stands.

Later, when no one is around, Sydney approaches me and says, "Mom, you really should just ground me. It was my idea to play with Ethan, so he wouldn't cry and scream outside. Don't ground Ethan and Devon, it's not their fault." This statement does somewhat sway me, because I am moved by her selflessness. This is a much better reason than, "but I want...". However the ruling did stand because I am frequently accused of playing favorites. Two of my kids are grounded a lot due to their choices. Two are not grounded because of their choices. I am accused of inequity all the time, so I am very aware of trying to keep things fair.

I wonder who will play King of the Hill today when we go outside...