Lately I seem to be getting a lot of whining in my house, even from the big boys (one in particular) about just about everything! They whine about what we eat, when we eat, how much we eat, what we watch, when we watch and how much we watch, homework, errands, being reminded of chores, you name it I seem to get whining in return. One even does the jumping up and down and throws a couple tears in for good measure. I can almost deal with whining in a 3 year old but why has my older children started whining again? Is it because they are testing the water for their boundaries, for independence. Do they feel neglected, do we give too much attention to the babies and not them? Are they spoiled? Are they stressed? Is there too much change? I have always said to my children when they whine "I don't understand you when you whine, can you please speak to me in a normal voice" it always worked in the past. I think it is time to pull that phrase out of my hat again, amazingly I haven't used it in a long time. We had very little whining for a long time, not anymore.