This happens a lot when I get together with my siblings, which is not that often. My mom loves to step in to correct our versions, but we love rehashing stories of our childhood just by ourselves. There was the time my dad challenged a group of my friends to abstain from using the words "like" or "you know" for 10 minutes, the bong that my mom, sister and brother all used in vastly different years and the time my brother walked in beaten and bloodied and begged me not to tell mom he'd been riding his skateboard. For month after that she drove him to and from his gardening job since clearly riding his bike was too dangerous. Pretty sure he'd deny that one.
My kids have only been on this earth for 6 and 7 years, but they already have stories up the wazoo. I love to hear them wander through the confusing tales, interrupting each other, giggling when corrected and, my favorite, retelling the funny parts 30 seconds later and laughing and laughing. I know they appreciate having each other and I'm so grateful for that. They may beat each other up occasionally, but they never hesitate to proclaim their love. I didn't appreciate having a sibling growing up, never even considered living with them and now don't see them nearly as often as I'd like. At least we're all still around, though, call occasionally and may someday plan an actual family reunion. Watching my kids and their cousins play dodge ball with their stuffed animals, it relieves me to know they'll have each other for when I'm not around.
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Don't kids just tell the best stories?! I am sure you are having a ball with your little ones...I'm looking forward to the stories my baby girl will tell!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your post, Nicole! It sums up exactly what my siblings and I were so excited about when we began writing The Kids are All Right together. We even had different takes on the title: Dan thought it was a "giant neon sign to our parents in the sky" telling them we were ok; Liz assumed it meant that we had all turned into people we were proud of; I liked it because it held a double-meaning: Since we told our story in four voices, and left in all our disagreements, we gave each other room to hold onto our own truths. Therefore, we were all, or each, right. And Amanda's first response? "I hate the Who."
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for reading The Kids are All Right!
Diana Welch
I love this post. I love the semi-secret language that siblings have and the stories they share.
ReplyDeleteHey, how's the hamster doing?
Thanks for the comments.
ReplyDelete@MAMA_BRANDI My husband is always amazed how amusing kids are.
@Diana - Thanks for commenting, you are such a wonderful writer. I love those take on the title, especially Amandas :) My brother has a teacher supply/toy store called "Teach Your Children"
@Marinka - my kids are learnign spanish too, so really will have a language we don't understand. Our hamster family was like a dynasty, and eventually most died tragic deaths. my son wants a hamster but I'm afraid our dog will get it, and I do mot have the skills my mom had for concocting stories.