Bickering and fighting are a daily occurrence in my house. I’ve learned to tune most of it out and let them work it out on their own. But there are times that I am dragged into the argument, or forced to step in because things are getting ugly.

The other day the girls were arguing, about God only knows what. Saadia was calmly stating her case, only to have Saniya respond with the same annoying answer over and over again. Saadia came whining to me that Saniya keeps saying it again and again (still not sure what it was, as I was trying my hardest not to care!).

I told Saadia to please just ignore her sister, that it wasn’t worth arguing over. Saadia looked at me, confused for a second, then walked up to Saniya and WHAM! punched her right in the side of the head. My jaw hit the floor and I jumped to my feet. Saniya, who never backs down from anything, swings back before Saadia could see it coming. BAM! right in the head with a sippy cup. Well, now it’s an all out Jerry Springer style brawl.

I rush over to them and tear them apart and ask what the HELL they were doing? The girls were winded and still struggling to get at each other when Saadia stops and says, “Um, what does ignore mean?”

I explained that “ignore” means to pretend that Saniya isn’t there, just don’t listen to her anymore. She responds “Oh, I thought it means to hit her.”

Moral: Define new words before using them in a sentence to a three-year-old.