Tick tock and it all changes
It amazes me how quickly things change. Growing up, my kids didn't know who was older. There was one minute between them - it's not like one is significantly older than the other. We had a system - A and M days. On A days, A would sit in the seat behind the driver (the one where they could still see things in the rear view mirror), push the grocery cart, whatever the thing was they tended to fight over - and it was the day she was oldest. The next day it was M's turn. It worked out nicely.
Until we met the bitchy cashier in Target. I still don't like her.
She asked all the usual questions: Are you twins? Are you fraternal? Do you think the same thoughts? And then there was the kicker: Who's oldest? We don't tell them that. Well, that's stupid. It's obvious who's older. It's HER! (pointing to A). Bitch!
This started us down the bad road. They wanted to know the truth. I called their dad and conferred and we decided enough was enough. So I told them. And it all changed.
A suddenly got a huge head. And M turned into the "little sister". A bossed her around and M took it (until it got to be too much and then she clocked A back into common sense). The damage was done. They took the older/younger sister roles to heart. I was so annoyed.
Now, fast forward about 8 years. The countdown was on. They were ending their 12th year and about to be teenagers. They weren't excited about this. They discussed remaining 12 (with a year of experience!). Being a teenager wasn't positive - this baffled me. When I was 13, I counting the days until my 16th birthday when I could drive. I was thinking about moving out. I was thinking of all sorts of stuff. Not my kids. Nope.
Then it happened. They turned 13. And the very next day they became cranky teenagers. They were moody and rolled their eyes at me and each other. What happened? They were nice a few days ago! How did this happen!
There has to be an antidote for this, right? Someone? Anyone?
I am dreading 16. Seriously.
Until we met the bitchy cashier in Target. I still don't like her.
She asked all the usual questions: Are you twins? Are you fraternal? Do you think the same thoughts? And then there was the kicker: Who's oldest? We don't tell them that. Well, that's stupid. It's obvious who's older. It's HER! (pointing to A). Bitch!
This started us down the bad road. They wanted to know the truth. I called their dad and conferred and we decided enough was enough. So I told them. And it all changed.
A suddenly got a huge head. And M turned into the "little sister". A bossed her around and M took it (until it got to be too much and then she clocked A back into common sense). The damage was done. They took the older/younger sister roles to heart. I was so annoyed.
Now, fast forward about 8 years. The countdown was on. They were ending their 12th year and about to be teenagers. They weren't excited about this. They discussed remaining 12 (with a year of experience!). Being a teenager wasn't positive - this baffled me. When I was 13, I counting the days until my 16th birthday when I could drive. I was thinking about moving out. I was thinking of all sorts of stuff. Not my kids. Nope.
Then it happened. They turned 13. And the very next day they became cranky teenagers. They were moody and rolled their eyes at me and each other. What happened? They were nice a few days ago! How did this happen!
There has to be an antidote for this, right? Someone? Anyone?
I am dreading 16. Seriously.
Comments
Post a Comment