Anger Management.

Yesterday, while shopping at HOBO for new office cabinets, Susan called me with bad news. Apparently our cat Sootfoot, in an effort to jump into the basement window sash, decided that my new Dell 24" monitor would be a perfect staging area. He is a big cat and the monitor is a bit top heavy; the result: were one freaked out cat and one destroyed monitor.

After the inevitable moment of irritation, I thanked Susan for letting me know and went about my business. There was nothing either of us could do. The cat is naturally curious and LCD monitors are fragile. It hardly makes a difference how I feel about it. Being angry would only make everyone feel worse and likely shorten the life of my cat.

Today, my daughter hit my son. Not casually, either, she really hauled off and whacked him.

Both of my children are lovely and full of energy, but it cannot be denied, by any who know them, that my son is a kind, gentle soul and my daughter is a bit of a short tempered hooligan. Before anyone takes me task for these raw categorizations I remind you these are not value judgments. It's just the way things are. I love Meghan's spirit: she won't take no for an answer and she is willful to the point of distraction. Grayham's forebearance and patience are laudable. I sometimes need to remind him that he's not his sisters' punching bag, that he has to stand his ground with her. Grayham doesn't want to hit her back, but he's annoyed that she shows so little consideration for him. She's seeking attention in the shadow of an awesome older brother, and has little in the way of impulse control at this age.

My wife brought her to me for punishment, which she really hates. She hates the idea of Daddy being mad with her, of disappointing me. When I catch her doing these things myself, I am quick to give her a swat on the behind: not as a punishment, but to get her attention, in no uncertain terms. Now, I am not so sure. In any event, she was brought to me after the infraction and I decided that a swat on the behind, was not going to be appropriate. Hitting her for hitting him just did not seem like the right way to go.

I took away her new bike for a week. She wailed, but she didn't fight me on it. I hope she is starting to learn that hitting her brother isn't cool.