Jealousy between CamMad

Ugh. It seems like every night there is some crisis between CamMad. One wants to be doing the exact same thing as the other one. To the point that one of them gets upset and starts a meltdown. The other situation that has wore down my nerves (just like the sound of fingernails on the chalkboard) is Child1 asserting their seniority and dropping the comment or performing the action that sends Child2 into a fit. I swear there are times that Child1 does it on purpose. Unfortunately Child1 at times can be beyond their years and trying to rationalize sounds good until you realize the age and then you're like ugh!

Tonight Child1 drops the "D" word after dinner, dessert, in front of Child2. Child2 who didn't eat a lot of dinner (because the child one eats 1 real meal each day and has mini-meals after that) locked onto the word like a cat pounces on a ball of yarn and chases it aimlessly for hours and couldn't let the word go. We tried to take advantage of the ADD-like quality of the age and misdirect but to no avail. Child1 at that point started a mini-meltdown because the primary needs were not being met at a fast enough pace. I had to take Child1 completely out of the room to refocus and remind the child about "D" word rules and procedures while Child2 was being consoled by Parent2.

In the end everything worked out peacefully. Child1 got to make cookies with me and Child2 was distracted enough so that night-night could happen at a reasonable hour (even though the child just fell asleep). We live to fight another day and so are the trial and tribulations of CamMad.