When Desperate for Peace ...

... grab a handful of markers and tell the kids to write on the boxes that seem to be mulitplying around the house.  

This was the way I diffused tantrums, calmed arguments and mopped of buckets of whine.  Still living in Boxland, here.  A month after moving into the new house, there are still boxes lurking in corners and (I swear) breeding downstairs like wet Mogwai.

Here's my free tip to you:  if you have restless children and lots of boxes, grab crayons and markers and tell them to decorate anything that is brown cardboard.  It works. 

Here are a few samples of the drawings:

Thing 1 and Thing 2 drawing on dishpacks

Thing 2

Thing 1

Thing 1 and Thing 2 showing what happens when you color on packing tape

Before Jesse arrived in Minnesota

Thing 3 got into the action