… no no, not the TV show, though it’s quite good… but real life Brothers & Sisters. The ones that bicker and fight and steal the spotlight from one another.

In theory.

In our house there have been no major battles outside of the odd bite or discussion of why someone gets to do something (”because she’s a baby”) and the other one doesn’t (”because you are a big boy, and if you want to be treated the same as the baby sister then I’ll go get you a bottle and  you can go for a nap”).

Overall, it’s peaceful and I attribute that to one thing: Army Boy is a very, very good big brother. He was there when she was born, watched her being born (all that boring sitting around waiting and just a few minutes of excitement, what’s up with that?) and has treated her like HIS SISTER from the moment she arrived. I’ll always remember when she was just a few days old and woke up in a fuss from her nap in the cradle, which sat in the living room. Army Boy, at just five years old, went and picked her up,  one arm around her and another under her bum. Apparently I was taking too long in the kitchen.

I had a moment of panic when he came around the corner, clutching her to his chest as she squirmed. I knew I couldn’t get mad, he had simply been trying to help. And he was so proud that he could. So I gave him more things to be responsible for: getting her a toy or a blanket, tickling her toes when she was upset, singing her a song. He had a few songs, my favourite was simply to sing her name and say “It’s ok” when she was upset. Even now, when she’s almost two, it will calm her right down. He took his job seriously and when Grandma would bath her, he’d sit right next to the tub and give Grandma instructions. “Keep your hand on her Gramma, don’t let her head go under Gramma, don’t let the water get in her eyes Gramma.”

She’s in a place right now where she’s learning to be kind. The other morning as we were getting ready to leave, he was sitting nicely, watching some TV and she tackled him and bit his shoulder, just like that. He was understandably upset. But he didn’t retaliate. He’d never retaliate.

Some days she refuses to hug and kiss him, even when he asks. We don’t know whether to make her hug and kiss or just hug and kiss him ourselves and tell him that it’s ok to not kiss and hug when you don’t feel kissy and huggy. He seems to understand, but he is sometimes sad when she refuses. He loves her.

In the picture up above she is giving him a sorry hug after one of her “tackle and bite” sessions. Learning to say “sorry” is becoming a priority, since she needs to say it so often! But Army Boy doesn’t complain, doesn’t take it out on her, he accepts her sorry as though it will not ever happen again.

Best. Big. Brother. Ever.

I am having one of THOSE weeks. Yeah, one of those that happen to coincide with a birthday, too much work, ovulation and the last day of school. Like, holy crap.

Earlier this week E-Toddler broke out in a rash two days in a row. She has a history of allergies (milk & coconut) but she seemed to have grown out of them. But suddenly, full body hives. So I took her in to the doctor to get them checked out. And asked if they could remind me which doctor she’d been referred to for allergy testing. When he’d seen her at about 7 months old he’d said “just call back and book an appointment for a year from now”.

Then, whoopsie, life happened and we moved TWICE and now it’s 16 months later and I forgot to book that appointment four months ago.. no biggie, right?

Wrong. Apparently someone needs to get paid a referral fee because when I called to book the appointment the receptionist told me that I’d have to go BACK to my doctor and get another referral to come to the allergist again for a follow up.

So, time until our doctor can see us: about 3 weeks. Then we can get a referral to go back to the darn doctor (and some money will change hands between my doctor and the allergist, I’m sure) for re-testing. I was so irritated. What is with this stupid referral system in Canada? What is the point? Why can’t I just call up an allergist and make a silly appointment? Is this country afraid of a little capitalism? Would it mean that the really good doctors would be busy and the crap doctors wouldn’t have enough patients? Gee, that would be really sad.

But, on a positive note, we discovered that the day care had accidentally been putting the wrong sunscreen on her, and now that they are using her sunscreen, the hives have gone away. So all is good.

But don’t get me started about the rude, ignorant owner of the local used kids store. As of right now I’m boycotting the Once Upon A Child store just down the road. Seven years I’ve been shopping there, but no more. I don’t give money to jerk-faces.

Okay. Now that all that is out… let’s have a great rest of the week! (It’s almost over, right?)

PTA/School Council tonight (first meeting I’ve been to, but I digress…) and as I was leaving I spied some teens PEEING on the side of the school. Oh no Mr. Little Men, not on MY school.

So I went in and got my peeps (aka, the rest of the PTA ladies) and we laid the smackdown on the kids. Ok, really we just told them to get the heck outta dodge and we were calling the board of ed security… and maybe the cops. Since they were parked on school property.

There was much laughter amongst us as we contemplated giving them all spankings, keying their cars or letting the sharp-tongued principal tackle them in her high heels… but in the end there was much ado about nothing since we all just wanted to go home I think.

But it was nice to be in a group of mama bears.

We live in a townhouse complex that nestled in a quiet community. (See, nestled, that’s a nice word, it means we’re safe, right?) My son, who is almost seven, has many friends. We pay more rent than I think we should simply because I like the area, friends are always around and I feel safe here.

A few weeks ago Army Boy (my son) asked to walk to the store with friends. It’s about two blocks away, but they have to cross a fairly busy street (with lights and a crosswalk). He was going with another boy about his age and two older kids. I knew the younger and older boy, but was unfamiliar with the older girl’s name he mentioned. Still, I said ok. I waver between encouraging these independent moments (because he’s not a risk taker) and being thankful that he never wants to wander too far from home. He’d never asked to go this far before. Do I tell him he’s too young? Do I praise him for asking and show him a little bit of trust? I went with the latter.

But the moment he walked out the door I looked at Major Man (my husband) and said “should I have done that?” Major Man shrugged but then mentioned that he DID have his Nintendo DS strapped over his shoulder and there COULD be teenagers around there and just because I was a saint of a teen doesn’t mean that every teenager is. One could easily thump him on the head and take that DS. What would stop them?

OK fine then. So I followed a ways behind them, so Army Boy couldn’t see me. I managed to get into the store without them spotting me spying, though I did have to explain myself to a few customers who observed me stalking four kids.

Army Boy had taken his wallet, brimming with quarters and one five dollar bill. He’d chosen some M&Ms and the cashier asked for $1.37. He looked in his wallet and then handed it over to the older girl he was with. “Do I have enough?” he asked. She pulled out two dollars and handed it over. When the change was handed back she made motions to put it back and then pulled a few coins out for herself.

She put them in her pocket and handed the wallet back to Army Boy, who hadn’t been looking at all, so enamoured was he of the M&Ms.

Well my cover was blown. I walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. “Did you just take money out of his wallet?” She denied it, not knowing who I was. I told her’d what I had witnessed and she just said “I’ll give it back to him.”

“No, I said, you’ll give it back to me, I’m his mother.” She blanched a little but handed the money over. I had no idea how much she’d taken but she said that was all. Then she apologized. I made some comment about how little kids trust bigger kids and maybe she should think about that and choose better next time.

Army Boy saw me and I made some story up about needing some iced tea.

I hung around and quietly followed them back. The girl disappeared very quickly and I haven’t seen her since. The boys couldn’t even tell me which townhouse she lives in, but I could find it.

I didn’t go and tell her parents - would you? I mentioned it to another mom and she said I should. It’s a little late now, but I did have a talk with Army Boy. I told him exactly what had happened. What I’d seen… how if he’s going to hand his wallet over, it should be to the person behind the counter. And next time he’s not taking his wallet, he’s going to take $2 and budget accordingly.