What brothers are for

Yesterday, Charlie was home with me for his "special day," and Cort came home early to hang out some with him too. So once Cort got home, I went to pick up the other kids early. Everything was going just fine during pickup until apparently I didn't hear some request from Joseph (keep in mind I'm at a daycare filled with kids - it's not exactly quiet), so I didn't respond, and he completely melted down. And everytime he attempted to regain his composure, some teeny tiny little thing would happen, and he'd melt down again. I ended up nearly forcing him to the car, with him yelling angrily because he wanted to hide in the office of the daycare and let Will and Helen find him, but oblivious to this desire, I had already strapped both Will and Helen into their carseat. I don't know if everyone realizes what it takes to get two toddlers down a busy city sidewalk, into the car, and strapped into their carseat (especially Helen, who tends to writhe around during the process), but if you don't, let me tell you, it's NOT something I would ever voluntarily do twice.

So then we drove home, with Joseph screaming the whole way. He didn't like the song that was playing. He wanted me to go faster. He didn't want me to stop at the red light. He wanted me to change lanes. He wanted a hug, NOW! I completely ignored all of this, including the hug request since (1) I was driving, and he was two rows back in a car seat, (2) he was demanding a hug at the top of his lungs, not asking nicely for one, and (3) this "I just need a hug" thing is a well-known Joseph delay tactic whenever he is being put in time out or the like (he wasn't exactly in time out in the car, but he was certainly headed that way as soon as we got home).

We arrived home, and Charlie immediately ran out to greet us. He got in the car to tell everyone hi, and Joseph was still angrily screaming, with a little bit of thrashing about thrown in for effect. I told Charlie to ignore him. I took Helen inside, where Cort was fixing dinner, and told Cort that Joseph was having a major meltdown and had been for the last 15 minutes. Then I went back outside to bring Will in -- only to see both Charlie and Joseph calming crawling out of the car with smiles on their faces like nothing had ever happened. We didn't hear a cross word out of Joe for the rest of the evening.

So after dinner, we were joking about the tantrum, and we found out what happened: Charlie gave him that hug. I believe Charlie's exact words were, "Yeah, he just needed a hug." And Joseph confirmed, "Charlie hugged me, and then I was okay."

I need to remember this the other 98% of the time when they are fighting. How lucky are they to have each other?