The bickering and teasing, mixed with occasional laughter, was reaching fever pitch. The baby was supposed to be napping. At the end of a long day, I was not handling the fighting and noise level well.
But, by the grace of God, I had a lightbulb moment.
The likelihood of them fighting would decrease exponentially if I gave them a task they needed to complete together.
I gave them puzzle to do. It was a rather difficult one – too hard for Little J and challenging for Big J.
“How fast can you finish this puzzle TOGETHER?” {I made it sound like they NEEDED each other.}
And it was fairly quiet for the next twenty minutes as they worked on it.
TWENTY minutes. Do you know how glorious twenty minutes of quiet is to a stay-at-home mom?!
I’m going to call it a “teamwork timeout.” I won’t tell them that – it’ll be our little secret. It’s a timeout for me as much as it is for them!
I’m making a list of a bunch of games or tasks they have to complete together that I can pull out when the decibel {and irritation} level are rising.
A few things on my list already…
- Build a Lego city.
- Count all of the pencils in the house.
- Make one giant birthday card for a friend or family member.
- Write out a list of all the superheroes you know.
- Make up a puppet show to perform for the rest of the family.
Sure, these might be things just to keep the boys busy, but if they are busy AND working together on a common goal, they are learning about teamwork and cooperation without me having to say a thing.
And I don’t lost my sanity in the process!
*Side note – After twenty minutes, I started to feel a little less crazed. I went down to check on them to find that they were stuck on the puzzle, but still working and not fighting. I sat down and helped them finish. It was a good moment. For all of us.
What would you add to the “teamwork timeout” list for a four-year-old and six-year-old boy? What would be on the list for your children?
I'm Erin, a wife, boy mom x 3, writer, and runner in Nebraska! I'm excited to share all my favorites relating to faith, family, fashion, and fitness in this space! Enjoy! 
Good thoughts!! I am trying to find stuff like this for my girls, ages a little more spread, but still, a great idea!!
GREAT idea! We set up a “bad guy” stuffed animal and let them dart gun the poor thing together. They have to work together on scavenger hunts and also no Wii games against each other but rather on the same team!!
What a super idea. I like this, something for teamwork when they’re fighting against each other. I had been getting them to do something for the other if they were having a hard time showing love, but working together is an even better idea!
hmmm…paint a picture together, take pictures together, idk what else. Let me know what else ppl come up with.
Great idea! Wish I had thought of that when YOU were little!
What a great idea. My first thought when I saw the image posted with the title was ‘make them hug!’ which of course would be a great idea. However, my 5 year old is Autistic and the other doesn’t have a sympathetic bone in his little 3 year old body. Anything I try will require my supervision. Good thing to try though! Thanks!
What a great idea. I’ve found anytime I can issue a positive challenge to my boys they respond really well. I’m thinking this might be a better alternative to the, “If you want to kill each other, please go outside and do it, so I don’t have to listen.” rant that I sometimes give them…
I love to issue measuring challenges. I’d probably ask them to see how many “hands” from point a to point b in the house and then compare it to other distances… It would keep their hands busy and feet shuffling in a productive way! 🙂