Sibling Squabbles

As I sit here on my bed I can hear my little girls arguing in the living room. I made the mistake of telling them they could take the ornaments off the tree....I mean it's January 2 and I haven't done it, surely they are better than nothing plus they volunteered! How often can a mom say her kids want to do something helpful? It was a mistake because I've already heard a couple of the ornaments hit the floor...then a scream, ALWAYS some one's name. I am assured NOTHING BROKE! I am not completely convinced but I'm not going to go see for myself until some body's bleeding. I listen...it's still there, the yap yap yap of three little bossy people.
"That one's mine",
"Stop Ariel",
"Yes I can help! MAMA DIDN'T YOU SAY...".
It happens any time they are together and they have been together a lot lately. We were coming home from the grocery store today and I thought a fist fight had started up in the back of the old Suburban...they were fighting to get out to get the mail. I never thought I'd see the day when I had to give assigned "mail person" day. It's funny the things they fight about! I had to assign them seats in the car so they wouldn't fight over either the window seat or the middle (if a movie was going to be shown) there were enough windows for everyone to get to sit there but they would all want the same one!!
I don't understand sibling rivalry. I had nobody to fight with. The cousins next door would spar with me occasionally but they had so much more experience with each other that they would just hurt my feelings and I'd go home to pout. After a couple of days we'd forget about it and start playing again. I attempt to make the girls apologize and forgive each other when I know what the heck the conflict is about but most of the time it's all so ridiculous I can't make heads or tails of it...like,
"MOM, tell Cheyenne she can't have all the chips".
Well, no Cheyenne can't have all the chips...she has some on her plate and you have some on your plate and...you get the picture. Someone is tattling because someone SAID something...oh and even better...
"She was going to do such and such"
Really? You know what she was going to do? The response to that is usually something like
"Well, she was thinking about it".
It gets very frustrating. I don't remember my older children doing this...at least to the degree these girls do.
One day years ago Matthan and Seth were sitting in the kitchen at the counter. I overheard a dispute that makes me laugh to this day. One said "You see Zack's new dog?" the other, "Yeah, it's a golden receiver", response- "Nuh uh, it's a black lamb". That's about as intense as those two got...until they were teenagers.
Just think what I have to look forward to with three girls during the teen years! If I don't need prayer now I certainly will then!