The downside to having two kids so close in age is that they like to pester each other. I can’t count how many times I’ve ended up shouting “You! Stop bothering your brother!  And You! Don’t get so upset! He’s just being a pest!”

The other morning, I heard my wife over the monitor. The five year old was bugging the 3 year old this time around and the three year old was delivering a full-on performance of teary-eyed whining.

My wife’s voice came through the monitor, cutting through the noise. “Look, you just have to ignore him.”

“But I can’t!” he wailed. “I don’t know the hand motions for ignoring!”

Heh. I think I do – and they involve only a single finger.

But I think we’ll save that lesson for later.