Sisters in the middle

I didn’t have a sister close in age growing up. My next sister is 7 years younger than me, so when I was going through my awkward teenage years, my sisters were about 7 and 5. So there wasn’t much teasing or tormenting going on. What we did have was a lot of babysitting.

I do remember one way I used to tease my sisters. My mom used to have a little thing she would always say to my sisters when she was tucking them in. Just a sweet little love you thing, she would say, “Good Night, I love you, sweet dreams, and sleep well.” (At least I think that was how it went). When I was babysitting, though, sometimes I would say, “Good morning, I don’t love you, nightmares and stay awake.” Not in a mean way, but just the opposite of what mommy would say. They would FREAK out and get all mad. NO, Say it RIGHT! They would beg, until I said it right. (Sorry, Mom! I guess I was a bad babysitter.)

I do have a brother who’s two years older than me. He was perfect. Good kid who got good grades, played sports and played in the band. Responsible band geek. He was, in fact, a lot like my oldest son, Cole, except for the sports part. He’s not a basketball player. But my brother was just a good kid. That made things difficult for me, the rule stretcher, think out of the box 2nd child. ‘Nuf said. But my brother and I pretty much got along. I did tease him and I do remember some fighting, but we didn’t have the constant teasing, whining, and making life miserable that you sometimes have with sisters.

Contrast that to MY house, where I have THREE girls, aged 14, 12, and 9. Do we have drama? Yes we do. We could do a little cheer…

We’ve got drama, yes we do.
We’ve got drama, how ’bout you?

My oldest daughter thinks it’s her job to make the next sister miserable, and the middle sister, not wanting to be left out, attempts to make HER younger sister miserable (as well as dishing it BACK to the older sister). The youngest hasn’t yet mastered the teasing thing. She’s a sensitive soul who frequently bursts into tears at the teasing and taunting of the older girls.

My two oldest girls share a room, and the youngest shares a room with her younger brother. I’m trying to teach them to get along. Trying to show them that in life, you have to share. That and we don’t have enough bedrooms for everyone to have their own room. It’s not working, though. At least once a week one or the other of them asks if we can change rooms, if so-and-so can move out, or if they can have their own room. I’m tired of it.

The other day I told them that if they kept up the whining, I’d just move them ALL into one room. Kind of like on Little house on the prairie. Just a whole bunch of beds in one room. It would be like we were in a hotel on vacation! It’ll be FUN!!! Then with the extra rooms we can have one room for the toys and one room for homework! I’m BRILLIANT! My oldest son promptly said, “I’ll just sleep in the homework room, mom.” And another one said, “I claim the toy room.”

Sigh.

I KNOW that these girls are going to be best friends some day. I occasionally catch the glimpses of true friendship, and that gives me hope. But for now, we’re just stuck in the middle.