the column from May 28th:
The art of annoying your sibling
By Erin Fox
Development is good. I know it is. Watching my children progress from one stage to another, increasingly wise in their questions and observations of the world, is very entertaining. I love watching their brains grasp new things and new ways to interact with one another.
Usually.
In the midst of this new stage they still laugh together while playing outside in their makeshift pool, they encourage each other while making shapes out of Play-Doh, they belly laugh when one of them lets out a really great belch. But something darker has crept into their relationship, too: Teasing.
This latest stage G entered is not so fun. As my dad aptly put it after spending a day with G and Little Missy last weekend: “G has turned into Little Missy’s big brother.” You know, the big brother who teases and knows the right buttons to push until the sister squeals. And Little Missy plays the role of “little sister” beautifully. That girl could give lessons on squealing.
The other night Hubby and I sat at the dinner table and chatted while the kids looked at books on the couch. G held one of Little Missy’s favorite books in his lap yet paid little attention to it. Instead he watched her and tilted the book down just until she got a glimpse of it, then he yanked it out of her eyesight. Her squeal was immediate. “MommyDaddy! G won’t let me look at his book!” The ornery twinkle in his eyes showed his delight.
Hubby nodded in their direction. “The art of annoying your sibling.”
One night after the kids were in bed, after a long day of squealing and ornery eye twinkles, Hubby exasperatedly asked me, “Why does he do this?”
And this is me showing how grown-up I am: I didn’t let the are-you-kidding-me look explode onto my face like it so wanted to do. Because seriously? Does he not remember holding my ankle and tickling my feet while I squealed and yelled at him to stop, him finally releasing his hold only once I’d threatened physical harm?
“Because this is what boys do,” I sagely replied. Forever and ever apparently.