The Whiners

Vica and Natasha are driving us nuts.

They complain about everything and anything that causes them the slightest discomfort. They always did this and that's what got them named the Gabor sisters in the first place, but it seems they are kicking it up a notch.

I'm hot, I'm cold, this ice cream is cold, this grass is wet, the sun is hot, these eggs aren't salted properly (I'm taking license with the English on that one) and on and on it goes to the point where I'm really getting tired of hearing it. I know it's not just me, because Matt just called to inform me of the latest litany of complaints and he sounded pretty exasperated by it too.

They are all over small minor things but I'm not sure where this is coming from. Is this normal girl behavior, or is this adopted kid behavior- or a combination of both.

My feeling is that they never had anyone that took care of them other than meeting their basic needs and now they have just come to expect that we as their parents will step in and make EVERYTHING to their satisfaction. Maybe we're doing too much for them? I certainly didn't think so. I've been vigilant about teaching the girls to be responsible for their possessions, cleaning up after themselves, making their beds, chores etc. When they complain about something minor, I just say something like "Oh well" and move on to the next thing. Matt tends to acknowledge the complaint and tries to explain to them why their complaint isn't a valid one.
I didn't come wired that way so I'm not sure how to handle this. I thought it would pass, but like I said it seems to be getting worse.

I'd appreciate any advice from adoptive and non-adoptive parents out there who are still reading this thing.

At least I feel better for venting. Thanks for the post Jane about how blogging helps work through a problem, I feel that this is going to an ongoing one.