Sisterly Love
Posted By jayna on October 11, 2011
E has an MJ-sized tooth-imprint bruise on her shoulder right now. MJ has a bump on her head from being smacked with a toy. Life with these two is never dull, going from adorable and sticky-sweet playmates one second to death-match rivals the next. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve had to literally pick one or the other up and drag them away from a fight.
But really, aren’t all siblings like this in one way, shape or another?
Eventually the conflicts will shift to bigger life issues. Now it’s just who has the better color crayon or which one gets to put the puzzle piece in place. Down the road it will be over shoes and make-up and (dear lord) car keys. Far, far down that road, they’ll probably fight over which family heirloom each gets when the husband and I kick it.
Far, far down the road, hopefully.
Today, I got to watch the great sisterly dynamics in action. After pre-school pick-up, we stayed at the playground for an hour or so, hoping to run off some energy before a predicted rainy afternoon. I sat off to the side and watched them play, gathering with the other girls that were there. E showed me just how bossy she can be, dictating all of the roles for their game of “house”. MJ protested to being the family dog, and they squabbled over that as the other little girls looked on. A few minutes later and there was a fight over who got which swing, and then another over who went down the slide first. Always in competition, at war even while they were having fun.
Shortly before it was time to leave, I watched a boy march up to MJ, get in her face and yell at her to stop playing with what she was playing with and get away from it. MJ is no dainty little thing, and defiantly held her own, glaring at the boy and refusing to move. From across the playground, E glanced over and saw the confrontation. Dropping what she was doing, she ran over to her sister’s side. Fist shaking and finger pointing, she got right back up in that boy’s face and let him have it. He turned tail and ran back to the pack of wild playing boys, leaving E and MJ triumphant. Grasping MJ’s hand, E led her over to where she had been and they happily played together . . . For two minutes before they fought about something else.
Back and forth, back and forth. It’s amazing to watch, despite how often it makes me want to beat my head against a wall or lock them in a room together until they stop. fighting. about. everything! I can’t wait to see how all of the dynamics change once we throw this third sibling into the mix.
That is awesome :) Even when they fight, there is still love. At least enough to stick up for each other. How adorable is THAT??!