paper and pencil One of -- if not the -- biggest downsides of parenting more than one child is the fighting. The bickering. The arguing. The all-out brawls. Sibling rivalry is alive and well in my house, and I swear some days it may kill me. That's why I'm always glad to know that my kids aren't alone in their love/hate/hate/hate relationship with another.

The Huffington Post recently posted a note from 10-year-old Tyler to his brother, Jase. His father told the site that Tyler was supposed to be apologizing for kicking his brother during a game of "Light as a Feather." And he started to, with some very nice words. "I'm sorry for kicking you with a feather," he wrote. "Kicking is not okay because it hurts people."

Nice enough, right? Then it takes a bit of a twisted turn.

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He wrote:

Also don't forget about the time when you were a baby -- a crying little devil -- but I liked you and now you still are a crying little devil who gets away with everything. I remember when Layla used your carpet as a diaper. Ha, Ha, and Ha.

So I'm guessing his parents might not have found it as funny as someone removed from the situation, but it's pretty hysterical. You can just hear how his thought process changed midway through. He couldn't let it go without getting in a couple of digs.

It's so similar to the way things go down when my children are forced to apologize to one another. There's almost always a "but ... " when it comes to them. I do love the idea of making them write down their apologies though and may implement that strategy in my house once my daughter is a little older. If for no other reason than it could produce a few laughs.

Do your kids fight a lot? Are they good at apologizing?


Image via quactaculous/Flickr