Sibling Lessons Taught and Learned
Sisters can teach each other lessons in different ways while growing up in the same household. Sibling rivalries can last for decades while sharing the same living space. Each time a real or perceived slight occurs, it gets stored in the database for recall years later. Each slight can be used as an excuse for a revenge plot.
Jenny was the oldest. She could remember when Michelle was born. She loved her little sister, but she often didn't understand that the offenses Michelle caused were because she was younger. She hated hearing things like:
"You're older, I expect better from you", or "You should be setting an example", or "She copies you because she loves you", or "give your sister her nose back", or "if you are going out to play, you have to take your sister with you". Jenny couldn't catch a break.
The first 'incident' happened on a Saturday morning. Jenny was holding Michelle (who was still in diapers), and she had a diarrhea blowout that leaked from her cloth diaper all over Jenny's lap. Unbeknownst to her, this was foreshadowing a theme that would repeat itself over and over throughout the years. Saturday mornings back then were the only time a kid could watch cartoons and kid shows. Jenny cried as her mom forced her to take a bath and miss her favorite show.
As the years went on, there were 'incidents' and 'retaliations' from both sides. Michelle would cry and Jenny would get in trouble, whether she actually did anything or not.
Michelle was a hot-headed little kid and liked to get her way. She played the "I'm the baby" card masterfully. Jenny knew Michelle was much more sophisticated and manipulative than she let her parents know. She was excellent at parent manipulation, but Jenny could see though her crocodile tears. She could shut them off as soon as Mom left the room and she got exactly what she wanted. Jenny did not love this arrangement at all. It went against everything she thought about fairness in the world.
Michelle was afraid of the dark. It was one of her weak spots. After the sisters finished playing in the basement, Jenny was tired and ready to go upstairs. Michelle said, "Don't turn the light off". The light was a pull cord just above the stairs. Jenny saw her opportunity and took it. She sprinted to the stairs and pulled the cord, leaving her sister in the dark. Michelle screamed at the top of her lungs. Guess who heard it? Everyone in the house. Guess who got in trouble? Of course.
Weeks later, Jenny was lying in the floor watching TV. Suddenly she felt excruciating pain, and saw light flashes following a loud 'thud' sound from an impact to the back of her head. She began crying immediately and rolled over to see what had hit her. She saw her sister holding a shoe. It was a 'jelly' shoe with hollow spaces in the heels. This one in particular was filled with rocks. Michelle was just standing there over her sister with a blank look on her face not unlike Michael Myers after he stabbed his sister to death.
She admitted what she did, although it was too blatant for her to deny. This time justice was served and Michelle got in trouble, but she never apologized for it.
It was the beginning of the development of Michelle's revenge style. She was patient, waited for her opportunity (Jenny lying on her stomach distracted by TV) and she struck hard and fast when no one was looking. Jenny respected her for it years later, even though she had to learn this lesson through a head injury.
Michelle still doesn't apologize. Maybe it has something to do with that running tally she used to keep in her mind. Now she has a husband and children who she can punish and Jenny no longer looks over her shoulder incessantly waiting for the other shoe to drop (on her head).
