MARK MY WORD: PARENTS FIND TIME TO REFEREE KIDS' SQUABBLES

There's never a dull moment when it comes to parenting.

You don't have to worry about what to do with your free time. There isn't any, unless you count all the time you spend feeding the dog, rounding up your children's shoes, cleaning up spills, doing the laundry and washing the dishes.

You also have to squeeze in some time to pay bills and referee squabbles.

Becca and Bailey get along fine, just so long as they aren't around each other too much.

Sooner or later, they both want the same toy, pencil, pen, doll, plate or whatever other object they fancy.

This usually leads to fights, largely of the verbal kind.

At times, Joni and I feel like we're refereeing the Saturday night fights.

As a parent, you send them to their corners for a little cooling off period.

But often the kids return for another round later in the day.

Then, just as quickly, they forget about it and return to playing school together.

As a parent, you seemingly have to deal with everything all at once.

You have to read to your children, kiss their hurt knees and fingers, and discipline the dog all at the same time.

Sometimes it's hard to keep straight just who is getting the diaper and who is getting the doggy biscuit.

Children have a wealth of imagination.

Becca and Bailey went "fishing" the other day without ever leaving home.

They sat in the back of our van, with the rear door open, and proceeded to catch some imaginary fish with a push broom and a rake.

The great thing about imagination is that you don't need a license to do it.

It doesn't take much imagination, however, to figure out that there is very little leg room or any other kind of room in Becca's bed.

Our 6-year-old sleeps on the top bunk in the room she shares with her sister.

The only trouble is that Becca's bed is the gathering place for all of her stuffed animals.

She has so many dogs, cats, bears and other assorted creatures roaming her bed that there is almost no room for her.

At night, she wedges herself into a narrow space between all the stuffed animals.

Joni simply smiles at such antics. She recalls that, as a child, she used to sleep on the floor because her entire bed was crammed full of stuffed animals.

Maybe that's a girl thing. As a boy, I never for one minute would have considered sleeping on the floor so that stuffed animals could get a good night's sleep.

When it comes to sleeping, Bailey's a little more practical. She prefers to have the bed to ourself, her buddy bear, her pacifier, her cow pillow and a Mickey Mouse blanket.

We're working to get rid of the pacifier. But Bailey doesn't want to let go of the "plug."

She likes to talk to us with the plug in her mouth. Her speech is often more scrambled than police radio communications.

When she isn't muffled, Bailey has plenty to tell us.

She repeatedly tells us that she wants to do things herself, like getting the orange drink out of the refrigerator and opening it on the kitchen floor.

It's times like these that you wonder if mobility is really a good thing in children.

But you don't wonder too long. After all, it's nice when they run up and give you a hug just because you're their mom or dad.

It more than makes up for all that refereeing you have to do.

~Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.