DejaVu - not!

I don't remember it being this hard! I really don't. How did this happen? When my kids were growing up I don't remember them fighting like these grandchildren of mine. They can't agree on anything at all. When they are all three here, it is bedlam. Either they all want something different (as in a movie to watch or something to eat) or they all want exactly the same thing (as in a place to sit). Why?

They are the sweetest little things(when they want to be) that ever lived, but they don't listen to anything I say any more than they stop and listen to the wind blowing through the trees. I have to either get very loud and angry-sounding to get their attention or touch them physically to make them notice that I am here and talking to them. They're not hard of hearing, though. They can hear the slightest whisper if I don't want them to know something.

One of them seems to think she can change my mind if she plants herself in front of me and whines 'Please, please..' over and over. Another seems destined for law school, as she raises one argument after another to prove that I am wrong and she is right and she should have whatever it is that she wants. The youngest seems oblivious to whether I have an opinion about what he wants or not, he just goes about his business of climbing or clawing or whatever he thinks will bring him to his goal. He is also not above 'fibbing' and saying Mama said he could have it when I know good and well she didn't.

Oh dear, I have made them sound worse than Dennis the Menace and Garfield all rolled into one. And they are actually very smart, adorable children. I am very proud of them, except when they are at my house together. Maybe that is it. Perhaps I should only have them over one at a time? That won't work, because I baby sit two of them on a daily basis. I guess Grammy needs to learn how to get their attention and let them know that no means no. Without acting like the wicked witch of the east.

Father God, give me wisdom in dealing with these precious children, and patience. They are a gift from You. Don't let me blow it.