of broken dolphins and dolls

Tonight had me in tears.
The twins had deliberately disobeyed their dad and had destroyed something of mine.
They were taking a bath and had removed three of the four chocolate dolphins, rendering them useless as protection against slippage in the shower.
They had already removed the two which had served to decorate the sink base.
I had told Michael of the importance of those dolphins to me, as they were a gift from the physicist, a special order from my bfe.
Michael, in turn, had told the girls to leave be the ones in the tub when he put the twins in for their bath.
Alyssa and Leila had not obeyed him.
When he went into the bathroom to check on them, he saw what they had done and I heard him fussing at them.
I rushed in and saw the three stranded dolphins on the side of the tub.
I was so very hurt and angry that the girls had disrespected me and my things yet again.
I had told them two days earlier that if they broke anything else of mine, I would break something of theirs, and "I know exactly what I will break first".
After they tore up the tub dolphins, I took the toys I'd intended to break... but I did not destroy them.
At least, not yet.
Michael reprimanded the girls and had a long discussion about taking things that did not belong to them and about making it right when you break something that isn't yours.
Then, he had the girls come to me, look me in the face, and apologize.
I was very touched that he had them do that.
I took advantage of that encounter to calmly, but with feeling, explain to them about the importance of so many of my things...
that quite a few are items from loved ones who have died...
that other items are from loved ones I don't rarely see...
that all have a special place in my heart.
They understand now that they should leave my things alone, unless they ask me first about a specific item.
They also understand that the two items of theirs which I have - two detestable dolls which are nearly as large as they are - are now in my possession.
They have a week to prove to me that they can, and will, respect me and my house and my possessions.
If they fail, I told them in a very serious tone, the dolls will be broken and will fit nicely into my trash can.
Then we all hugged and they went to bed and I cried.
Let's hope tomorrow fares better.