oh my babies!
Around my brother (8) and sister (soon to be 11), I feel archaic. My inability to understand grade school politics renders me useless, I am a grown up to them. I don't think it's possible for me to be "cool," to them. I may drive, have a cellphone, and the ability to come and go as I please, but I don't get why girls have to be so girly.
My sister had an early birthday party today, and I was flabbergasted by it. The boys, who I had initially been very wary and suspicious* of, were nothing to worry about. They just kicked around and swam and screamed and played with balls. The girls sit in groups and chat and judge! oh how they judge! They debated over the merits of two-piece bathing suits versus one piece, and then one girl started to ask me what kind of phone I had. When I said I only had two songs on it, she scoffed and said, "Well my sister has like, five hundred songs on hers!" I promptly left, and then gave our downstairs part of the house a makeover. I placed a fake Louis Vuitton bag* on the counter, I casually used my computer and did a bunch of other small things. I almost decided to park my car outside of the garage but then I realized I'm trying to impress an eleven-year-old.
I know I can't do much myself. If a girl teases my sister, I can't really beat her up without looking like a child molester. I can't tell them to stop, I can't interfere. I have to watch from the sidelines and issue advice and encouragement. The only thing I have in my arsenal is to have better details, and even that is subjective. My sister can brag about my steadily growing library, but who reads anymore? I'm super overprotective, but that's just too bad. The world won't let me do shit to the objects of my ire, so I will calm down and let my sister deal with it.
*Backstory! There is an odd love pentagon going on with a few of the kids, and my sister is part of it. They want to have girlfriends and boyfriends, but the question arises- once you have one, what do you do?
*These are handy knitting bags! The needles can't get through the sides to puncture you!
My sister had an early birthday party today, and I was flabbergasted by it. The boys, who I had initially been very wary and suspicious* of, were nothing to worry about. They just kicked around and swam and screamed and played with balls. The girls sit in groups and chat and judge! oh how they judge! They debated over the merits of two-piece bathing suits versus one piece, and then one girl started to ask me what kind of phone I had. When I said I only had two songs on it, she scoffed and said, "Well my sister has like, five hundred songs on hers!" I promptly left, and then gave our downstairs part of the house a makeover. I placed a fake Louis Vuitton bag* on the counter, I casually used my computer and did a bunch of other small things. I almost decided to park my car outside of the garage but then I realized I'm trying to impress an eleven-year-old.
I know I can't do much myself. If a girl teases my sister, I can't really beat her up without looking like a child molester. I can't tell them to stop, I can't interfere. I have to watch from the sidelines and issue advice and encouragement. The only thing I have in my arsenal is to have better details, and even that is subjective. My sister can brag about my steadily growing library, but who reads anymore? I'm super overprotective, but that's just too bad. The world won't let me do shit to the objects of my ire, so I will calm down and let my sister deal with it.
*Backstory! There is an odd love pentagon going on with a few of the kids, and my sister is part of it. They want to have girlfriends and boyfriends, but the question arises- once you have one, what do you do?
*These are handy knitting bags! The needles can't get through the sides to puncture you!