The sun shone from behind clouds on the horizon as we left the pool at 8:00 p.m. On the way home, my 3-year old daughter reached her hand toward her 8-year old brother, causing him to rebuke her: “Stop it!”
She retaliated with a whiny shout.
A 13-year old in the backseat yelled out, “Hey, knock it off!”
I said, from behind the steering wheel, “PLEASE EVERYONE! STOP! I’m at the end of my rope!” (You would be, too, if your ears were full to the brim with whiny pouts and indignant yells and endless taunts.)
The 8-year old said: “What rope?”
The 13-year old said, “Mom’s rope.”
The other 13-year old said, “Mom doesn’t have a rope.”
The 8-year old says, “Who has a rope?”
The 3-year old screams, “I DON’T HAVE A ROPE!”
The 13-year old says, “Not you. We’re talking about Mommy’s rope.”
The 8-year old, “Oh. Mommy has a rope?”
Me: “Please! Stop! Talking!”
Actual Unretouched Photo 
We have been having similar conversations in our van lately! Since only 2 of my kids are talkers at this time, it’s on a smaller scale than what you describe. I can see that it only gets better?! 🙂 Aren’t you glad that all it takes to get back up towards the top of the rope is to see them peacefully sleeping?? I love that!
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I have always called that an Alice in Wonderland conversation.
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Oh. MY. GOD!
And husbands wonder why we JUST. WANT. SOME. QUIET!
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I am right there with you Mel.
And I second what Gracie said 🙂 Just a little quiet!
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Oh gosh- CAN I RELATE!
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You know the rope I am about to strangle you with!!! Would have been my unkind response…. =)))
My thing at home that drive me NUTS is when I am trying to talk or “discipline” another child the other two are in the back ground saying “ohhhh.,.. you got told!!” Who ever came up with the phrase “you got told” I would like to give them some talking to!!
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Very funny, LOL, Yes, when they get to be that age 13, they think they know it all. Yes, I have a 13 son and that conversation sounds only too familiar. I hear it only gets better as they get older. LOL!!!
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I have only 2 kidlets; I do not know how you do survive it with your brood. Peace. Quiet. What is that?
Last night we all played Clue, and the whole time the 8 year old kept up a constant chatter. The. Whole. Game.
My ears hurt.
.
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Boy does that bring back memories! Ha!
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Sounds like “Who’s on first?”
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Personally, I would pull the car over and tell them in a whisper like voice….”I cannot drive safely with all this noise.”
I would then inform them; “The car will NOT be moving towards our next destination until peace and quiet again return.”
School bus drivers use this tatic ALOT.
I have personally used classical music to set a peaceful mood. It sometimes has the power to even put them to sleep our of sheer boredom….Hallelujah!
And ya’ll must keep in mind, they do not become fully human again (once they reach the teen years) until their brain is fully formed at…oh…25, or so.
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All I can say is I sooo relate to this! You have my sympathies!
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And to think I spent my day blissfully out in one of the rockers on the back porch reading! Conversations like that do NOT make me want to go back to the earlier years of child raising, haha! But with baby sitting my grandson, I know I’ve got some ahead of me in a couple of years, especially when he discovers the word, “Why?” Oh buddy, buddy…
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You understand, you really truely understand!!! My advise?! IPOD :O)
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Are you sure you weren’t actually a passenger in *my* van when this conversation took place?? It sounds eerily familiar…
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