Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Big Brothers

What is it about little boys that possesses them to completely terrorize their little sisters? It’s almost as if it is innate from the time of birth.

My husband and I seem to be at opposing ends of this spectrum. My husband is an older brother who likes to lovingly relate tales of how he put his little sister in a box and shoved her down the stairs, or how he would rip the limbs off of her dolls so he could play a fun game of dismembered Barbie.

I, on the other hand, grew up as a little sister. I relate terrifying tales of how I was held down and terrorized in creative ways at the hands of my older brother, or how some of my favorite toys were destroyed much to his amusement.

When I hear Georgia scream and see Eli’s evil little smile, it’s like I have stepped into a time warp back to 1977. I seriously can’t handle it. If Eli sees Georgia playing with one of his toys (or one of hers for that matter), he will quickly rip it out of her hands and throw it across the room.

Why? That’s what I want to know. Why the hell does he feel the need to do that? When I reprimand him and ask him why, I either get “I don’t know,” or the more explanatory “I didn’t want Georgia playing with it.” *sigh*

And Eli is such a sweet loving boy. I just don’t get it. Today, I actually heard him do an evil laugh. I’m not exaggerating. He actually looked at his sister and went, “Muwahahaha.” WTF?!

Anyway, today’s incident actually spurred my little tangent. We were driving along, when all of a sudden Georgia started screaming from the backseat. I looked back and Eli was touching the side of her car seat. That was pissing her off. I just sighed and said, “Eli, leave her alone.”

Two minutes later, more Georgia screams from the back seat. I looked back again, and Eli’s hand was back on the side of her car seat, and she was screaming, trying to pry his fingers off of her seat. (Does this bring back any memories of phrases like, “MOM! HE’S LOOKING AT ME!!” to anyone?)

What’s worse is that Eli was smiling. He was so incredibly proud of the fact that he was causing his sister so much torment. My response, “Eli, why do you have to be such a boy?!! Stop that!” He seemed confused by that remark, and in retrospect, that probably wasn’t the most brilliant thing for me to say.

I related the story to Eric and told him that Eli wouldn’t stop touching Georgia’s seat. His response, “Yeah? What’s wrong with that?” Grrrr!! Those damn big brothers! They stick together!

11 comments:

Desert Songbird said...

No, it's brothers of all ages and birth order. My daughter is the elder by three and a half years, and although she and her younger brother are the best of friends, and he is a very sweet natured boy, he delights in pushing her buttons. His response is the same and Eli's when asked why -- "I dunno." Or, even worse, "Because I can!"

Sigh.

The Ice Box
Ice Box Project 365

Irene said...

Awww, I've always wanted a big brother. ;p

SQT said...

Oh man, I feel for you. I have 3 older brothers and I still have flashbacks.

Thank goodness my eldest is a girl. Maybe she can get even for me.

Donna. W said...

I grew up wishing I had brothers and sisters to play with (my one brother and one sister were grown). So I was totally shocked when I found out how siblings fight all the time. My daughter is 2 years younger than my son. And yes, I heard, often, "Mom, he's looking at me." There were times that I thought if I could go back and do things over, I wouldn't have a second child.

Christie O. said...

Bad news. Turns out the same problem exists between big sister-little sister. At least it did in my house and I was the mean big sister! She's since forgiven me though and I'm grateful!! haha

Mo and The Purries said...

I was the big brother, who got the tables turned on him when my teenage sister turned violent.
I stayed clear of her for years. The good part = we're actually friends now.
So is Eli modeling himself more after Robbie Rotten nowadays than Sportacus?
:)

Sparky Duck said...

I was overall a good big brother. Which might be why I am good at torturing the wife sometimes, getting the aggression out now

Pattie said...

My problem is that my husband is an only child so most days he looks at me and just shrugs. He has no idea about sibling rivalry, sharing or good ol brotherly love!

Sadie said...

Funny, I always wanted a big brother.

I have a big sister, and she didn't push me down the stairs or destroy my dolls, but she made me cry all the same.

Different method, same result. It's just the way of the world, I guess.

Crazy Working Mom said...

My kids are 4 & 18 months. The girl is the oldest. My little boy is just now starting to torment her. They've always gotten along so well. But, it just seems like those dang boys just have that mean streak in them that makes them want to hit, pull hair, and take away toys!

Sunrunner said...

Did Eli ever go through the terrible two's or is he just getting to that now? I feel for you, I truly do. For us it's my youngest that pesters his OLDER sister. And she could bend metal with some of her screaming.