The "Get Along" Shirt

It has been so long since my last post. I apologize! Parent-Teacher conferences (both my own child's and those of all my students), trips and the month of March is nearly gone... my apologies!

I had had it. We were on day two of a nonstop bickering, fighting, nitpicking marathon. The hubby and I were at our wits end. Our girls would NOT stop fighting with each other! Even our son, who is only one-year old seemed to be getting in on the fun, chasing after his bickering sisters and yelling, "No!" at them over and over. There was yelling. There was cajoling. There were headaches. Yes... there was even bribery and promises of movies and sweets to try to get them to quit the constant bickering! When thant didn't work I think I even threatened to leave (which I actually did, because I needed to take a walk around the block before my head exploded. Turned out to be good because I remembered seeing a picture somewhere...). I think I had done everything that the experts and magazines tell you not to do and probably none of the things that actually work. Throw me a bone... I was tired and had a headache. It got so bad that the husband and I started in on one another. Well... when the going gets tough, the tough look on Pinterest. I think my husband and I could have really benefited from the awesome Pin I found!

The Pin: The "Get-Along" shirt. Why have I never seen this before and why have I not been using it for the last three years!? My girls are 18 months apart and, like all siblings (especially ones so close in age), they fight. A lot. I can relate to them... I am the middle of three sisters, one 18 months older and one 18 months younger. Trust me. I get the whole "her foot is on my side of the chair" complaint. I can remember when my sister also looked at my Barbie doll the wrong way without asking. I understand. But when you're on the OTHER side of these nit-picky arguments, it is such a different story. (Side note: I know my mother is laughing right now. Paybacks!). I'm sure my kids are way worse than my sisters and I were and I'm sure we NEVER fought as much as they do now. Maybe... Either way, I was done with the fighting. So I hit Pinterest and I found this wonderful little gem...

Photo from Pinterest

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

2 or more bickering children

1 XL size white t-shirt (you could use a different color too!)

Permanent Marker

Scissors

Bickering children? Check. I definitely have those! Three to be exact. 1 XL size white t-shirt. A quick check in the black hole that is my husband's closet. Check! Permanent marker... I'm sure I have one floating around somewhere that my kids haven't ruined yet by either putting it in the toilet or leaving the lid off. Check (found in the back of the junk drawer). I didn't even have to buy anything. Bonus!

So I took the extra large t-shirt and laid it out flat on the counter. I wrote on the front in big, block letters "Our Get-Along Shirt". Your message could be a slight variation of this phrase. I think something like "We WILL get along!" or "We will wear this until we stop fighting" would work too. Let your creative juices flow! The possibilites are endless. I wrote fast because I was seething mad at this point, but the message was clear. Two of my curious little angels came over to investigate what I was doing. "What is it mommy?" "What are you doing?" "Is that for us?" I gave them the mom-look. You know the one. Here's what I ended up with.

Get Along Shirt - Genius!

At first, I didn't cut the neck at all. In hindsight, I would have done this sooner. I'll explain. Keep reading... I'm sure the suspense is killing you. My kids are pretty small still (6 and almost 5) so the XL fit them fine. If your kids are bigger, you may want to go with a XXL or larger. So I called them over and had them stand shoulder to shoulder.

Girls: "What is that mommy?" (Craning necks, trying to see the new clothes I had).
Me: "You get to wear it. It's a new shirt for you. Both of you. You get to wear it together. Isn't that fun!"
Girls: "What does it say on it?"
Me: "It says 'Our Get-Along Shirt'. You get to keep it on until you stop fighting. The longer you fight, the longer you get to wear the shirt!"
Girls: "That doesn't sound fun."
My conscience: "You think this is really a good idea?"
Me: (thinking to my conscience): "Shut up conscience! I'm working..."
Girls: (now giggleing) "Okay!"

They wouldn't be giggling for long. I slipped it over both of their heads and had one of them each put an arm through a sleeve. They were so cute and naive at first! They laughed for about the first 3 1/2 minutes. Here they are in those first innocent minutes...

Awwww... they're so happy.

Still happy...

They were so happy at first! They laughed and giggled as they tried to make it around the house in their new, tandem state. Then they started bickering about which way they would go. And who was going the wrong way. And who got them into this situation in the first place. They tried to go opposite ways. This hurt their nexks (see previous comment when I said I would explain about cutting the neck...). The older one begged me to take it off. 

Daughter 1: (through tears) "Pleeeeeeeeeeeease Mom! I'm choking. Do you like hurting me?" 
Me: "Stop fighting."
Me:" I will take it off as soon as you two get along and stop fighting.
Daughter 1: (crying)

There were a lot of tears, but I held strong.

Reality sets in!

After awhile I felt bad, so I took the pair of scissors and cut the neck seam out on the sides. I would have done this sooner if I would have known it was going to "choke their necks" (their words, not mine). Pain was definitely not my goal. I'm not that mean. In their minds, I'm sure they thought they were stuck together for hours. In reality, it was only 10 minutes. As soon as they stopped bickering, the shirt came off. In the meantime, after about 7 minutes of the shirt, their attitudes turned around pretty quickly. Get-Along shirt... success!

COST: $ I'm sure almost every mom has a shirt and a marker laying around somewhere. If you did have to buy them, it would probably cost you somewhere in the $10 range. Do-able. Bonus: the bickering children are free and I KNOW all moms with 2+ children have those at some point.

DO-ABILITY: Easy. Marker. Shirt. Kids. Done. Doesn't really need a lot of extra explaining.

MAGIC SOLUTION? : Did it stop the bickering? For now! I know I will come back to this little trick for future bickering marathons. I'll just keep The Shirt in a VERY easy-to-find location.

THE GOOD: Super easy and inexpensive solution to the endless quarreling and bickering. While it might not work forever, for me it works for now! 

THE BAD: The shirt collar hurt their necks. It rubbed on them so they had little red marks. Nothing major (although the older one thought she would have to go to the emergency room). If you cut slits in the collar or cut it away from where their necks are, it shouldn't be a problem.

THE UGLY: The yelling and complaining when the shirt is first administered are sort of hard to take, but if you can hold strong until they actually stop bickering, it works like a charm!

PIN OR  BUST: I think it's defintiely worth pinning, if only to make sure that all mothers are aware of this super easy trick to end (or at least postpone) their children's fighting. In my mind, if it makes them quit their nitpicking at one another for a few minutes, it's worth it!

ONE LAST THING: I haven't had to use "The Shirt" (as we've so endearingly termed it) since this incident. I'd be interested to see if this worked for anyone else. If you've tried this before (whether it worked or not) let me know! I'd also be interested to see what other "phrases" people have come up with. Comment and tell me all about it!

Happy Pinning!