Why I dread three day weekends

I used to anticipate three day weekends. An extra day to sleep in. Short road trips. Lounging by the pool. Exploring new hikes. Going to a late movie on a Sunday.

But now I dread three day weekends. Three day weekends have become something I tackle. Because by the third day my girls are ready to take each other out in an official screaming match that wakes the coyotes from their daytime sleep. And probably the owls, the bobcats and the mountain lions, too.

The screaming is always preceded by a who-can-annoy-the-other-the-most competition.

In our house Katie usually wins. She is a master at irritating her sister and getting her own way.

This afternoon it was entering her room and demanding to play at the exact moment that Caroline was taking a huge box of coins out of its secret hiding place. The only thing that satisfied Katie was getting a huge handful of coins.

The satisfaction of the coins only lasted a few minutes. After she deposited the coins in a heap on the floor in the family room, she returned to her sister's room. Just in time to see Caroline putting on a new pair of riding boots.

This started the it's-not-fair screaming match.

"That's not fair! Why don't I get new riding boots?" flew from Caroline's room.

"It's not fair. Katie ALWAYS wants to be in my room!" Caroline screamed louder.

"You're the meanest sister EVER."  The pitch was growing shriller by the second.

Growls. Grunts. Katie is a really great growler. A pretty good grunter, too.

"I'm scared! Help me!" Caroline hates it when her sister growls.

More growls. More grunts.

"I'm serious! I need help in here!!"

Foot stamping. Door slamming.

"I have no one to play with!" Katie screamed.

More door slamming. The cat scrambled by.

"FINE! I'll play with you!" Caroline screamed back. "But you can't touch this or that and don't you dare touch....."

"That's actually mine, Caroline! True! I can touch it."

"Mommy! Mommy!"

Do you enjoy long weekends? What do you do with the extra day?



This post is participating in Tackle it Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.