Red Bell Pepper

Yesterday afternoon I asked Mark to stop by the grocery store on his way from work and pick up a needed item for dinner. He asked if we needed anything else, so I asked Kara. Bentley immediately piped in "I want a pepper!". Peppers are a lot cheaper at Costco, but for a special treat we could buy one at the grocery store. B specified no green ones.

Mark brought the pepper home. Kara prepped it and cut it into slices. Bentley grabbed the bowl filled with pepper slices and commenced chowing down. The twins somehow got a couple slices, but then Bentley said he wouldn't share. It was HIS pepper. Jake and Viva protested loudly, so I went over and negotiated for them.

I'm not a good negotiator because I only got them two very thin slices. It didn't seem worth the hassle to force him to give up more. Bentley kept close watch on the rest of the slices. He didn't eat them all, but he didn't share any more either.

This morning Viva had a P&J sandwich for breakfast and Jake had a Belgium waffle. B-Boy grabbed the rest of the red pepper. Jake once again protested, so I told him (in hind sight, I see this was unwise of me) that I would buy him his own pepper next time we went to Costco. Jake, who knows we buy bags of peppers, not just a single pepper at Costco, immediately laid claim to ALL the peppers. They were all to be his and he wasn't sharing.

I tried to reason with him. I told him that there would be a pepper for him, one for Viva, and one for Bentley. No, he wanted them all. He was quite emphatic about it.

At this point Bentley decided to join in our conversation. "Jake, you have to share." (This from the child who refused to share his red pepper?) Bentley's comment made Jake livid. "NO!" he shouted. "Oh yes, you do, you have to share.", responded Bentley.

Back and forth the boys argued. Jake got more and more furious. I sent Bentley to time out for aggravating his brother. (Kara says Jake should have been sent to time out, too.) Bentley kept on jabbing at Jake even from time out. Jake at one point became rigid with anger. His fists were clenched, his backbone rigid, and he let loose a very loud, long, hoarse shriek. It was quite the sight to see and to hear. WOW! Those boys sure do like their bell peppers.

What did I do at this point? What any sane adult would have done. I left and went to my club to exercise.