Our first week of summer vacation flew by with three parties, one mass with the bishop, another mass where Mikey sang the psalm, and one night where our local frozen yogurt shop put out Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I would have been happy with only the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
As Mikey gets older, he gets more impatient with Nico. Nico makes huge messes, Mikey doesn’t. Mikey listens to me when I tell the boys to pick up their room, Nico “forgets” or suddenly gets “really tired.” Nico wants to play with all of Mikey’s toys, gadgets, and art supplies. Nico just wants to be Mikey, and Mikey doesn’t see that a lot of the time. I’ve tried to smooth the ruffled feathers without getting too involved or picking favorites, but sometimes they just plain ol’ fight all day long no matter what I do.
Little snips and snaps and “don’t!” and “stop!” and “no!” and “Moooooom!” all day long.
It was after one of those days that I hustled them to bed faster than fast, ready to shut the door on the day. Maybe an hour later I heard Mikey talking to Nico in the room. I snuck down the hallway and poked my head in their room. There Mikey was, the older brother who claims Nico annoys him “all the time,” laying in Nico’s bed and reading to him The One and Only Ivan.
What a perfect ending!
Mmmm…peanut butter cups sound great right now.
Glad to hear that even with all the fighting and annoying, they still find time to get along. My sister and I had our fair share of fights and she annoyed the s**t out of me most of my teen years, but I was always there for her when she really needed it…and she always did the same. It’s one of the most complicated and nuanced relationships a kid can have, and it sounds like your boys are navigating their way through it just fine. You know, as long as no one draws blood, of course. ;-)
Staying out of it as much as you can is perfect. If things get really heated, give them a job they have to complete together. No drama, no yelling, no speeches about cooperation and brotherhood…simply a task that engages them physically with no playing until it’s done. I raised two boys who are now having children of their own. They are very close and still love to work and play together.
your blog is amazingly wonderful, so happy to have found you!
xx
http://petalandplume.blogspot.ca/
Ugh. Sorry for the empty comment! This is so sweet it made me teary. I love having my two daughters and they can be nice and sweet, but I swear there is nothing sweeter than a sweet boy. (There – managed to say sweet a nauseating number of times!)
Gah! My heart!
It’s nice God gives us glimpses into the heart of the matter. My mom said she thought my brother and I would drive her batty with our squabbling. But moments of sweetness carried her through . . . and what do you know? My brother and I grew up to be friends! :)