The Pistol

Nine kids. At least one of them has to be a "pistol". Feisty, strong willed and disobedient. Ok, honestly? They are all pistols from time to time. With some of them it comes and goes, depending on the day, the amount of sleep they had and whether or not they have had a proper meal in the last 3 hours. Abby is one of these. She can be as feisty as the next man, but its conditional. She isn't always like this, she can be really bad when she hasn't had enough sleep. McKenna is the same way. Sweet, helpful and happy, until circumstances invade and then watch out...you may get murdered in your sleep! Then there are the kids that wake up as pistols and go to sleep pistols. It's in their blood and they can't deny who they are. Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad thing. The stronger the person the more likely they will not get walked on all their lives, the more likely they are to accomplish their dreams due to sheer determination and the more likely they are to be able to endure whatever comes their way.

My kiddos that were born pistols would have to be Megan, Joe and Jessi. Not one of these kids is afraid of life. They say what they think, they do what feels right and all three of them are willing to stand toe to toe with anyone who threatens them. Strong they are...each one of them. Sometimes this works against Jon and I.

Megan is a night owl. We can start her on her nighttime routine at 9 and she will still be awake at 11. We threaten, we compromise, heck..there are even nights where we beg. She just has her own agenda and follows it through the way she sees fit. It drives Jon and I crazy, but what are we to do? You can't force anyone to do anything and even though most of the kids cooperate and do what we ask, we have learned, even the hard way that you can't force them. It's a 2 step forward, 3 step backward process. She loves fiercely, completely and hurts deeply. It's just the pistol in her.

Joe...he has a very unique personality. He likes what he likes, he wants what he wants and when you go against him he will explode. He and Polly's son Ian have pretty much grown up together. They are both just as strong as the other. There have been so many days where Joe has wanted to take Ian and throw him off the nearest cliff, and Ian can feel the same way about Joe the next day. They can fight like brothers and often do. But just as fierce that way Joe can be fierce the other way. At school when Ian gets picked on Joe is there to be his friend. When they have no one else on the playground, they have each other. Joe and Ian play like they are twins and then fight like they are enemies, all on the same day. It's that sibling mentality of "I can pick him to death, but if you touch him I will kill you!". Joey is a very passionate child...gee, I wonder where he got that from? ;)

Jessi. This child is a pistol, with an intense and wonderful sense of humor. She is feisty, but so much fun that you forget about the feisty. I was in bed a little longer than normal this morning. I spent most the night up with Skyler, so Jon was kind enough to let me sleep in. After an hour or so the kids started to filter in. Kenna was sitting on my ceder chest chatting when all of a sudden the boys door flies open and Jessi drop kicks a stuffed green bunny out the door, yells something at the poor thing and then slams the door. Kenna and I both cracked up...it was just too funny. After another couple of minutes Jon had strolled into the room and was laying on the bed and the three of us were just blabbing casually. Colby's whimpering came from inside his room and we all looked at each other with that look that says we knew what was going on. Jessi, the pistol, was now giving it to Colby. I guess she wasn't getting the desired response from the stuffed animals...so it was Colby. He came out of his room crying and saying that she had thrown Buzz Ligthyear at his head. While he was pining away, she was in the other room yelling something about "It was an accident!". Jon yelled from our room for her to say sorry....in a loud and very insistent voice she said "I did say sorry like a billion times!" She put such an emphasis on billion that we all burst out laughing. She said she was sorry....so take it and go! I love that kid! I love them all....

I have to say that I love the feisty, as much as it makes me cringe as a parent most days. They are what I never had the nerve to be...strong, outspoken and able to speak their minds. Good job guys...now I just need to find out a way to teach these little pistols to keep it in check! :)