Siblings

Who is the favorite child? Are they the first born? Will it be the child who looks like Mommy? My grand daughter is an only child and she did not have to jockey for position. She received all of the attention, all of the toys and hugs from 3 grandmothers. When there are multiple siblings there are ways to get the attention of MOM and GrandMOM. You can be the one that cries the most, throws the most tantrums, makes the most messes, sits quietly in the corner with legos, or requires the most attention because of an illness from birth. Sisters fight the worse, brothers tease the worse, sisters team up against the older brother, the youngest gets the most new clothes, new toys.

One day my sister and I were fighting over panties and bras and she scratched me on the face and down my back. I was a nail biter so I had no nails but I was taller than her. By the time the brawl was over I looked like I had been in a cage with a wild lion. Who won? She did with the most blood running down my face and back. It was shocking but the power of the argument set a precedent for the next disagreement. Don't mess with her. Find a way around the situation. At 10 years old find a way to negotiate, you will end up with mental scars but no battle scars.

My brothers were 7 years apart with 6 girls  in between them. There was no interest in being a big brother it was too much work. Just ignore the kid and let his sisters play with him. There is no mentoring a brother that can not keep up with you when you are riding bikes. When you have six sisters you have hand-me-downs of shoes, dresses, shirts, slacks and underwear. The oldest gets the first, then the middle girls get gifts at Christmas and Birthdays but are stuck with used stuff. The middle child syndrome kicks in and they resent the older sister who has an edge up because she is the first daughter born.

One day I was walking to school with my brother who was 5 inches taller than me. A neighbor boy threw a snowball and hit me in the face and I started to cry. It was 7:45 am and mass started at 8 0'clock. My brother threw his books in the snow, gave the kid a bloody nose and we made it to mass on time. I did not know he would defend me like that and I will forever owe him for being my hero.

The sister were tight in many ways when it came to playing tag, roller skates, jump rope, brushing each others hair, doing homework, and playing with our dogs and cats. We all differed when it came to friends and boyfriends. If someone liked one of us they would drive by the house and honk the horn, you have to remember this was the 1960's with no cell phones, no internet, very limited television and one phone on the wall in the kitchen.

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