It started as a simple game.

I asked the boys to each pick up 30 toys before bed the other night. Zach asked if he could count every lego piece--I said that was fine as long as he got them all picked up. He claimed that he had picked up 1054 things. Ethan disputed that amount because he didn't want Zach to have picked up more than him. Zach got mad. Ethan got mad. A chase began. The next thing I knew Zach was in tears, holding a little, broken, electronic soccer game. Apparently, he threw it at Ethan and it missed and broke. I explained that we don't throw things at people no matter how mad we are. I told him that I wasn't going to replace the game. He was out of control and I wasn't going to reward that kind of behavior. He looked at me with some tears still in his eyes "But, mom, my rage was peaked. I couldn't help it". I guess we better be careful not to peak his rage anymore!