"You HAVE to get along!"

Anyone that has been to my house knows that our family is rapidly outgrowing our table. Right now we barely fit around it and that's because Katie is still in her highchair. We have a bench that 3 kids have to sit on. Somehow a rule was established a while ago that whoever sets the table gets to pick where everyone sits. Jadon frequently volunteers to set the table so that he can put himself on a chair. Lately our 3 oldest children are driving each other crazy. They are doing anything they can think of to bug the other 2. Bill Cosby's stand up "Will you stop touching me" comes to mind daily. Last night Dale had an idea of a way to force them to get along. He decided that for the next week the 3 of them have to sit on the bench together. You should have seen their faces as he was telling them this. They knew what he was going to say before he even finished talking. They were all saying "NO,NO,NO that's not fair!" We told them that we will judge their behavior each night at dinner and if they don't behave themselves we will keep adding days on to their week. The first night was awesome. They all complained of being squished. They all put their elbows on the table to try and get in the other person's space. They kept reaching for things all the way across the table to purposely get in the other person's way. Needless to say, Kierra ended up in tears. I don't know why boys LOVE to tease their sisters. This should be an interesting week, month or year. I think I'll end up eating in my room!