Gave the girls a lecture about “thankfulness, gratitude and hard work.”  Told them they are lucky to have three meals a day, nice clothes and all the toys they could ever want.  Their faces grow long. They look down at the floor.

“And another thing, you guys have a DOG! Look at how many of your friends whine endlessly that they want a dog! And you don’t take her out and play fetch and you don’t pick up her poop. You are old enough to pick up her poop now. Definitely old enough.”

Josie runs to get plastic bags and actually starts picking up the dehydrated piles in the backyard, smiling.

Ava pouts and puts both elbows on the kitchen counter. “Mom, no fair! She beat me to it!”

I reply, “how about she gets the back yard, and you get the front yard.”

“Noooooo! There’s a lot more in the backyard than in the front!” She cries out in tears.

I smile inwardly. Sibling rivalry knows no bounds.