Don't be a Hero

My son, my hero, has taken to defending his mommy from the evils of his older brother. Keegan and Donovan like to hurt me in different ways, which I'm sure is perfectly normal, but it really, really tries a mom's patience. It seems like every day Keegan has to go through a whiny, yelling and complaining stage to get him to do anything, from a trip to the aquarium to doing his homework. Today he was actually yelling at me - it was 4:30, they were about pass out from starvation and I would not let him have oreos as a snack while I made dinner - and Donovan went over and whacked him in the arm with a little lunch box.

Timeout! Donovan's got a bit of a hitting and hurting problem. He's the sweetest kid, constantly telling me how much he loves me, but he loves to do things like run up and whack us in the butt, slap my hand harder and harder (slapped me in the face once), and tonight he threw my glasses at me. It's not out of meanness, but it's damn annoying. So I dragged him into the bathroom and told him he was never allowed to hurt Keegan, even if he was saying something mean to mommy.

Fast forward to after the bath, Keegan tells one of his patented white lies - we were looking for my ring, I found it and asked him to pick it up. "I found it, I found it, mommy. If you pick it up, that means you found it." Bam - punched in the penis. Clearly my earlier instructions to Donovan had not sunk in. "Do NOT punch him in the penis," add that to the list of things I never thought I'd say. And we've had to say it more than once, I'm slightly ashamed to admit.

I've become a lot more tolerant of violence with two active boys in the house, but clearly this cannot go on. Any suggestions here?