Siblings

JED fight like cats some days. They really do. Sometimes it gets violent enough that toys get viciously stomped on and stuff gets thrown at each other. Inevitably, I get an angry and indignant phone call that makes me want to block our home number. Sometimes we think they need to be either separated, into different houses (put up for adoption!) or put together in a get-along t-shirt (A huge t-shirt they all have to wear at the same time).

At their most unreasonable, they are mean and sometimes even cruel to each other.

But thankfully, there are also times that I know they love each other, will look out for each other and all is good in the world.

There are times when there isn't enough of me to go around. Muffin wants to be read to. Evan wants me to play cards with him. Jordan wants to make stories or one of the twins has last minute stuff that I need to help them with and Muffin is going on and on about wanting to play/ read to etc.

So on occasion, I deputise the free-er twin to help. Both Evan and Jordan love reading to Muffin. They read in different ways. Jordan's more expressive and the true storyteller. Evan reads it deadpan, which is funny in its own right, but knows how to run a parallel discussion about the book that interests Muffin.

And then there is this. 

The twins are at the age where affection from someone other than their parents is 'gross'. Muffin is very affectionate and tries to hug and kiss them especially when we send them to school and the twins get all sputter-y and grossed out by his affections. I suspect the more they try to thwart him, the harder he tries, just to annoy them but to get them to 'love' him. 

But one morning recently, both Muffin and Jordan crawled into my bed and kicked me out. Jordan threw open her arms and said "Come Muffin, let me sayang you!" and Muffin leapt at the opportunity and they spent a good 5 minutes smothering each other in too-tight hugs and kisses all over each others' faces. 

Recently, Evan had a terrible nightmare that involved a plane crashing. He was crying in his sleep, just before it was time to wake for school. It was too real to him and it took him a long time to understand that it didn't happen and no one died. Jordan was worried, ready to bang down our doors to get us. She even tried to console him though he pushed her away.

Eventually, at wits end, she wrote him a note and left it at his seat on the breakfast table.

I don't know if it made him feel better but it was very good of her to keep trying, to let him know that she was thinking of him.

This and the fact that when each child is given extra money for an excursion for school, they choose to buy something for their sibling. Occasionally, they come home with treats for each other from the school canteen.

Hopefully, as they get older, there will be more days like this and fewer cat fight, fur and fluff flying days.