Newsflash!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some of you already know my news flash. Sibling rivalry does not go away. So if you have young children clamoring for your attention, prepare yourselves. When you can, move away and leave no forwarding address! My two children are 30 and 33, and the green eyed monster of sibling rivalry still rears its ugly head, especially for my daughter who is the oldest.

Back in July, my son asked if his friend, J, and the friend’s fiancee, C, could come to Sunday night dinner. First, when I am asked about an hour before hand, it is difficult to say no. Second I was playing piano for their wedding, and C wanted to talk about the music. There was a reason. And C brought food and wine. She is a very thoughtful young woman.

I would have preferred the dinner be family, but J has been around here since junior high school. He is practically family, and C is just as accepted. It turned out to be a lovely evening. My daughter, however, was incensed. She thought it was terrible. How insensitive of her brother.
Well, now the shoe is on the other foot. My son in law is good as gold, but sometimes he can go over the top - especially when he is with friends or his family. He can begin to wear very thin. They have his high school friend staying with them right now. He is beginning a new job here, and they decided he would "rent" a room from them until he decides where he would like to live. This should not be a problem for us, right? Er, no.

On Sunday, she called with the same question: could the friend come to Sunday dinner? As fate would have it, he didn’t come in until Monday. Side stepped that bullet. We are all set to trundle off to Rancho SSB this weekend. They were going to have him just stay at the house and take care of the dog. Guess what! He will be coming along.

We don’t know this man from Adam. We know nothing about his personality. We know nothing about his background. We get to spend the weekend with him in a 1700 square foot house.
If S acts the way he usually does around his friends and family, it is going to be a very long weekend. His brain turns to absolute mush. He will revert to being 17 years old again. He will be loud and obnoxious. He will make up more stories to impress everyone than ever. If they begin reminiscing about high school, I think I will be physically ill. I just hope they have already gotten that out of their systems.

Now, if I express my feelings to my daughter, she will (as is a Texas saying) swell up like a toad. She will say that we allow her brother to bring friends. She will say that we allowed his mother in law and her boyfriend to accompany them to Rancho. She will claim I treat her brother better, and I dare not challenge her on that front. She might even refuse to come herself.
I really thought at some time, the rivalry would stop. For some reason, she tends to feel it a lot. Perhaps it’s because she and I talk more, and she tells me. I know my son is threatened by my son in law because he does so many things at the Rancho. I guess I should just put a pillow over my head. Then it would all go away.