Men are martians…or something like that
When Keaton was five years old, his whole life turned upside down. He went from being a very spoiled only child (because Justis didn’t yet live with us) to being a big brother to two new babies. And he wasn’t very happy about it. He no longer had our undivided attention. He had to share us with two other people. Two little people who needed to be fed and burped and changed constantly.
And he’s never forgiven Skyler and Spencer for that.
Couple that with the fact that he’s now a teenager. A teenager with attitude. A teenager who thinks he knows it all. A typical teenager. And we have a recipe for disaster.
He picks on them. He makes fun of them. He mocks them. He asks them difficult math questions that clearly a 3rd grader and a 1st grader wouldn’t know and then calls them stupid for not knowing the answer. It drives me crazy. We’ve had many sit-downs about it. He swears he’ll act his age and stop being a jerk. And then the hormones start raging and we’re right back where we started.
So the little kids (as we refer to Skyler, Spencer, and Caleb) tell me they don’t want Keaton to babysit them. Ever. Because he’s mean. And they hate him.
I said, “You don’t hate him. He’s your brother. You love him.”
Spencer thought that over and said, “Ok. Hate is too strong of word. But I really don’t like him. And I definitely don’t love him.”
I consider that progress.
So tonight Skyler asked me when Keaton was going to camp. (He goes to church camp every summer.) When she found out it wasn’t for many more months she said, “Dang it. I was hoping it was soon.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I hate him. Wait. I don’t hate him. I love him because he’s my brother. But sometimes I hate him,” she sighed. “It’s all very complicated.”
Tell me about it sister. And it doesn’t get any easier as you get older. Men are always complicated.
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Lori Said,
March 15, 2009 @ 9:41 am
Brendon does the same thing to Jace. He tortures him constantly and usually will not stop, despite mine and Jace’s incessant screaming, until he makes him cry. I’ve come close to having to physically get in between them and pry Brendon’s hands off Jace sometimes. That’s when he is tickling him. Not to mention the telling him he is stupid, taking his toys away or scaring the crap out of him with monster stories or chasing him. I don’t get the preverse pleasure they seem to get out of torturing them! Should we be worried? Or are they just buttheads?
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