Conflict.

Discuss a time you had a conflict. What was it about? What happened?

Ok, about an hour ago, with wifey about child rearing. Maxwell is a little over one and he had just exited the bath and was cleaned and dressed in his PJ's by his Mum(Wifey). I was getting the bath ready for Amelia who is alomost three and need three different additives to her bath in an attempt to help her sleep through the night and not be up every five minutes itching (Amelia has some pretty serious allergies which keep us awake most nights). So one of these additives, the emulsifiser, only really works well if you dissove a bit in some really hot water. I has left some emulsifer in the dissoving tub with some boiling water, and had turned, knelling on the ground in the shower box tipping out some excess water that has now filled the baby bath when Maxwell walked in to have a nosey because his Mum was now grabbing some clothes for Amelia to get changed into after her bath. (And I's just like to mention that I'm intentionally running big sentences in this here blog, because I feel it adds a small taste to the many things that go on in one instance in our house hold

So Max tries to have round two in the bat, push past his sister, I stop him from doing so and ask wifey to come and get him as she does, Amelia can't take the whoosh! of the water leaving the over-filled bath any longer and tells us, as Wifey is picking Maxwell up, "I done a wheeze on the floor".

SO, I get her to move off the well placed towel, and say something to Wifey along the lines of "I wish you had grabbed Max when I asked", while she was saying to Amelia "why didn'y you ask Mummy or Daddyto use the toilet like a big girl" which made wifey corner on me saying a justification that was probably as equally well thought out as my initial wish.

I know your thinking this is the conflict, but it's not, that's just a quick skim of the major backgorunf events. What happens next, is that while Wifey and I are trying to begin our initial justification of our various tlaking points, Amelia sticks her hand in the sink, in the tub and into the boiling water, emusifer mix.

...

So I (very stupidly) repeated my statment about wishing Max got removed when I asked and wifey blew her stack at me feeling she had to justify that no of it was her fault, I shouldn't use boiling water, overfill the bath yada yada, blame blame, you get the picture

Amelia was and is fine by the way, she gave herself a scare and thats about it and was happily playing in the bath within about 5 mins

What was the source of the conflict?

-Both Wifey's and my complete love for our children, a need to protect them and knowledge that we couldn't live with ourselves if something bad was to happen to them, the only thing being worse than that being to somehow have caused it. Or- being a parent to paraphrase

What basic emotions did you feel upon analyzing the conflict?

FEAR, PANIC, REGRET.

What actions did you take to resolve your conflict?

Haven't yet, but as "firefighting" is the norm in our house-hold, when there is a quite moment when both of us aren't asleep, we normally fess up and say sorry to one another and have a cuddle ans tell each other we love each other, turn the page and get over it

If you could go back, what would you do differently, if anything?

Not have left the emusifier tub in the sink, put AMleia on the toilet while we waited for Daddy to empty the bath a bit, shut the door so Maxwell couldn't wander in, not lost my cool enough to speak re-criminations to Wifey, be well rested, etc.

What did you learn from this experience?

That when wifey is tired she gets upset more easily, that Amleia is a tough little bird, that Maxwell will happily race in to situations without thinking of the consequences and that he gets that from his Dad.