Oil and Water

Ah, summer is upon us, and the fact that we made it through that first week is kind of a miracle. Sibling rivalry is an aspect of parenting/childhood that I completely do not get, nor have I come up with a fool proof way to deal with it. Seeing as though my next sister is 8 years older than me, I didn't have to deal w/ sharing resources, time, or attention-and if I did, I just dealt with it, and didn't complain.

Alex and Laura suffer from this: Laura is deceitful, ignores Alex, is the typical mean girl to Alex from the mental aspect, and she always pulls out the "Alex, you're a jerk". A lot of this is Laura's personality, I think it's what separates girls from boys, they deal with conflict in a whole different way. Maybe what I'm trying to say is that girls learn to be bitches as a young age, we just don't know it;).

And Alex isn't much better, he's the naive kid that typically leaves just enough rope to hang himself. He gets caught doing and saying things to her on a regular basis, and he is the king of aggravation. I don't even need to look at him, to know what he's doing to her. I think I said "it's going to be a very long summer for you two, if you don't learn to get along" about a million times last week.

You know it's an accomplishment when for the few minutes they can manage to get along, they make a point to say-"mom, we're playing with each other". On Monday they both got sent off to summer school, which was a milestone day for Laura: first day on the bus. She was so excited, and I had to break the news to Alex that he had to be nice, possibly sit with her the first day in case she was scared, hold her hand if she needed it, and help her find her teacher/classroom. He obliged, I knew he would; as much as he doesn't like her, I know he loves her.

That first day watching them get off the bus and run to the house was priceless, Laura's smile couldn't have been bigger. Alex then broke the news to me that 1) "Sissy didn't want me to sit with her, 2) she went to her classroom herself, 3) she wouldn't hold my hand and 4) she wanted a hug, and you didn't say anything about hugging. Oh and she sat in the back of the bus on the way home, and whenever Mr. Belling would look she'd duck. Ah, Laura, makes me laugh just thinking about her, her independence and her defiance. . . .

So when somebody finds that magic answer to sibling rivalry, let me know. In the meantime, I know I can rely on Alex to conform when I'm not around or I can bet on Laura doing whatever she needs to let her big brother know she doesn't need him. . . . except for that hug.