Wednesday, May 2, 2007

BLOG CRAWL 4, Sibling Rivalry

This picture was taken in 1970 by the shore of the River Clyde in Dunoon Scotland.  This wasn't the best shot of the day.  In fact there was a much better one of the three older sisters in which I was sitting quite angelically and had my tongue in my mouth rather than wagging as in this one.  I felt this picture better exemplified the personalities of my brother, sisters and myself at the time. 

George, my only brother, was my partner in crime.  The little one on Mama's lap is our baby sister whom we called 'Beanie' following an incident that involved a pinto bean and a particular orifice on her face.  I call her 'Beanie' to this day.  Beanie was more often than not our victim.  If you were to ask us though we would have a million and one reasons why our actions were justified as 'self defense' and not just plain orneriness.  Beanie was a brat, a spoiled rotten brat.  And worst of all, Beanie was cute!  She was tiny and everyone adored her.  She was like a walking, talking doll and my older sisters doted on her like a princess.  I despised dolls and therefore I despised Beanie.

Looking back I see that I was perhaps a little jealous of my baby sister, however at the time I felt my actions were justified by her devious ways.  I also felt that I was in fact doing her a favor by educating her.  One such lesson was when I attempted to introduce her to a ghost that resided in a large wooden wardrobe in the spare room at the back of the house in Scotland.  Little Beanie was skeptical but I knew for a fact that the closet was haunted, because I said so.  I dared her to climb in and look for the ghost, emphasizing thatshe had to be completely silent so as not to scare the specter away.  As soon as she was in the wardrobe, I shut the great mirrored door and locked it, to maximize the darkness which was a key element in ghost sightings (because I said so).  Unfortunately Beanie, who was afraid of the dark, immediately began to scream at the top of her lungs.  Mama made me (and George, because we were inseparable back then) let Beanie out, and even though Beanie wanted to meet the ghost and I was merely fulfilling her wishes, I got in trouble.  She would have seen the ghost if she had been quiet as I had instructed.  Hmmmmph!

Another memorable incident happened shortly after our move to Hawaii.  We were visiting our grandparents on the Big Island, and a bunch of cousins were going to go hiking through the sugar cane field behind the house.  Naturally Beanie wanted to tag along.  Naturally I protested.  Naturally Mama insisted that I take her along.  Naturally I was not happy.  About 20 yards into the field, with the lush green stalks high above our heads, I stooped down to examine the thick moss growing around the base of the cane.  Ever inquisitive, Beanie asked what it was.

"Pig pee"  I said in all seriousness, then jumped up and yelled for everyone to run for their lives.  Everyone started screaming and the cousins scattered in a million directions like roaches.  When we all stopped running and met back up, Beanie was no where to be seen.  In fact I wouldn't see her again until we eventually emerged from the cane field a couple of hours later.  I saw Mama with her.  Mama was not amused.

Today Beanie is a wife and mother of 4.  She is a valuable longtime employee at a major retailer in the islands, she is an awesome cook, and has an infectious smile.  She survived childhood without any ill effects.  I'm surprised she hasn't got a million phobias because of me.  She described me as her hero whenmy children asked how it was growing up with me.  Perhaps later, when she was a teenager, but definitely not when she was a youngster.  Maybe she is suffering from repressed memories.  Or maybe she is just a very forgiving person.  At any rate, she is a wonderful soul... and I am glad to have played a major role in her development.  (still trying to justify the whole thing).

Love you Beanie!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

* Carpe Diem by princesssaurora:  Pumpkin vs. Fuzzy, officiated by Mom  Final score...TBA.

* Just Mary by frankandmary:  Meet Cricket, a precocious teenager who even has me believing that its not her... its everyone else!

* In My Opinion by pixiedustnme: Sibling rivalry takes on a whole new appearance when the rivaling siblings are your children!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG.  I am sympathizing with Beanie at this very moment.  I was the youngest, and those stories brought back a lot of memories of my own childhood.  My sister would lose me in department stores,  told me there was a witches in bathrooms...etc...etc..  LOL..  You evil sister you!!!  HA HA HA... Cute picture! Julie :)  

Anonymous said...

Oh!  I can't believe Dan didn't submit the one about him and his brothers... that naughty boy!!!!

I loved your stories about torturing Beanie... poor thing!  Being an only until Kathy moved in with us at 17... I really don't get it very well!  This made me laugh...

be well,
Dawn
http://journals.aol.com/princesssaurora/CarpeDiem/

Anonymous said...

I love your childhood story!  I too am an oldest with only 1 baby sister who I tortured mercilessly.  
:) Tabatha

Anonymous said...

That is a great story!!   -Kelly  http://journals.aol.com/pixiedustnme/Inmyopinion/entries/2007/05/02/ah-brothers/1424

Anonymous said...

Love it love it. We had a younger sister we treated that way. Thats what she gets for being the youngest, right?

              Julie

Anonymous said...

i love the stories you tell:) i feel sorry for your baby sis:) but you had to have made a big impression on her for her to say you were her hero big shoes my friend big shoes:) have a good week

Deb

Anonymous said...

I wanted to participate if I could, but, my family didn't really have sibling rivalry, LOL.  I hope I can participate in the next Blog Crawl.

Krissy
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink  

Anonymous said...

I loved this story reading about Beanie. I was the oldest of 6 and as it would turn out also the reason for everything they ever did wrong or got in trouble for. Apparently I was suppose to set a good example. Who, me? Yeah right lol. (Hugs) Indigo

Anonymous said...

I love this!  I couldn't participate since it would have told on me so bad!!
Traci

Anonymous said...

I love Beanie now too.  She is still going to get you.  She pretends it is all water under the bridge.  ~ Mary

Anonymous said...

well I missed this one! dang.  I have to pay more attention to alerts! I was probably well behind and got overwhelmed and deleted all alerts that day.  I'll catch the next one!  This one was a good one!

Love ya,
Promise
http://journals.aol.com/promiseluv372/PromiseMe/

Anonymous said...

My hubby had four sister and one brother. They all ganged up on the youngest one.Their Mom came home one day to find the littlest one in a turket pan, complete with cover. (They did not put her in the oven thank God) Freaked the Mom out...babysitter got in trouble.  They are all friends now....Sandi