The boys tend to go in phases with Legos.  Sometimes they are way into them and sometimes they are not.  Just prior to going to Legoland, the boys got back into Legos after having taken a break from them for a while.  We were glad of this because it made Legoland more exciting.  However with Lego mania always comes fighting.  And this December the boys were fighting a LOT.  I finally got so sick of it that I did something I have never done before. I TOOK THE LEGOS AWAY.  ALL OF THEM. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM.  I have never even threatened to do this because I knew how hard it would be on everyone, including me, because even though Legos cause a lot of fights, they also create hours and hours of peaceful fun too.  And I knew that finding all of them spread throughout my house would be a nightmare.  But I was done.  I was tired of listening to the constant fighting that seemed worse than usual and so in a moment of genius (Rock thought it was insanity) I confiscated the Legos the week before Christmas.  It took me over an hour but I got every last lego.  No one got to keep the sets they leave up for display, no one got to keep their recently purchased Legos from Legoland and no one got to keep even legos they bought with their own money!  I wanted them to feel what it was like to miss the legos, to feel the boredom, to feel the pain!  I also wanted to help them at least have a chance at keeping the dictum, “You better not pout, you better not cry, you better not fight I’m telling you why…..Santa Claus is coming to town!”

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, not a Lego was stirring not even a brick.  That week was great!  No fighting.  The boys did go through withdrawals, but they played with toys they had not touched in a long while, Cade got back into Origami again and Reagan made a fabulous homemade gift for his sister.  Of course, Reagan did his best to argue, cajole and manipulate some of the legos back, but I did not budge. 

Then about three days after the Lego confiscation, I noticed that it was very quiet downstairs. I didn’t think much of it until a while later when Reagan and the boys came upstairs with a  whiteboard that said “The Lego Constitution” on it with each of their signatures.  Reagan then proceeded to explain the meeting they had just had downstairs to hash out the rules everyone would play by from now on so that they could have their legos back.  I was pleasantly surprised they had remembered enough from our studies of the constitution to create one of their own and that they were attempting to solve the problem on their own.  As I started to question them I found that they had been relatively thorough in their rule making, though they were still missing many details and they had not written anything down.  This was the perfect opportunity to teach a little more about our constitution.  What would have happened if the constitution had not been written down? What happens when someone breaks a rule?  What is a contract?  I sent them back downstairs to write out their constitution so that we could discuss it further. 

We tried once more to discuss their rules and make sure that all three boys were on board and not just Reagan, but it became very apparent that everyone was not on the same page. With Christmas and family in town we decided to tackle it in January, though we did give them back their Legos after Christmas.  The pain of losing their legos should buy me some peace for at least a little while until we can figure out the “constitution”. I don’t know that there will ever be a perfect solution to the fighting over legos, but I’m sure in July of 1787 the founding fathers were not sure they would ever reach an agreement about their dilemma either. So I’m hopeful!