There must be a better way

The boys love to ride their little tykes bikes noisily in circles in the basement. Apparently their usual game of "Bash the Brother" was getting old, because today they invented a new twist. Seth took a jump rope and tied Marcus' bike to his. Then, he pedaled as fast as he could, Marcus with his feet of the pedals giggling behind him. He took a sharp turn around the corner and Marcus flew around the corner behind him. It is almost like he's tubing behind Seth's boat! Meanwhile, Eldon ran as fast as he could behind them both, yelling and laughing his head off.

There are times when I just pretend I don't see and let them have their fun... I go upstairs and make sure I have plenty of first aid supplies.

There must be a better way to parent boys, then just waiting for the next broken something or injured something.

I remember reading in a dog training manual that dogs have certain needs... They need to chew, they need to dig, they need to run sometimes. The book advised the owner instead of trying to eradicate these behaviors in your dog, provide him with acceptable outlets for these things.

Now, as an owner of boys that remind me of dogs, I ponder the acceptable outlet I might provide for their need to bash stuff.

Ah ha! I cheerfully gather the empty diaper boxes and bring them downstairs. As they yell, "Wow mom! that's awesome!" I build a tower and tell them to drive into it with their bikes. I head upstairs smiling, leaving them to yell and destroy in peace.

After a happy fifteen minutes of this, the fun devolved into Brother Bashing again, and they come upstairs with injuries. Sigh.

There's got to be a way to direct these boy energies!

Dear reader, if you have anything that needs to be broken or destroyed, I will lend you my boys to do the job!