Oh, Mama!

I am an only child and like many us who bear the title we have no understanding of sibling rivalry and the other dynamics that go into multiple children families.

I remember when Paula and I were raising our children when they would get into arguments and say, “I hate you” and other hateful things; I would think that there was some lasting bond to the words and that our future family would be shattered into little pieces. Paula would just tell me to relax because this was the way that siblings acted and reacted to each other in different situations. I eventually came to see and believe that the utterances of youth did not carry a long shelf life to those uttering the words.

One of the other dynamics that I was unaware of but saw growing up was the way that younger siblings had in bringing their older siblings down in size and it was never more apparent that last week at Disneyland.

My family enjoyed a week at Disneyland last week and on one of the mornings we were in an elevator because we needed to transport my granddaughter, Peyton, to the trams from an upper floor parking area. In the elevator also were a mother and her young teenage daughter and a smaller brother.

The teenage girl had a t-shirt on that said, “I Look Awesome” and just to make idle talk I told her that I thought she looked awesome also. Her brother standing next to her was fidgeting a little bit and as the girl thanked me she kind of shoved him a little bit. I am not sure if he instigated the encounter but there was a little contact being made.

I was finished with the short conversation but I heard the girl utter something about her brother being a pain or something like that and the mother was just watching.

Just then…wait for it, wait for it…The brother says in the calmest voice I have heard in awhile,” At least I wasn’t caught in bed with my boyfriend by mom”.

Oh, Mama!

Mom went off like a roman candle on how that was not the proper thing to say in public and as I watched the boy I saw in him a sense of pride in holding his own. To hell with the tongue lashing he was getting, he carried the day and the punishment was minuscule to the smack down he gave his sister in front of total strangers.

I have to say that as embarrassing as it was for the sister; I admired that little guy for taking the chance and accepting the punishment to get his point across. Don’t mess with the little people; they will take you down.