Last week, I read a post where the writer claimed that \u201cbrothers stink\u201d. As I read the writer\u2019s experience with her brother, I felt so sad for her, because I love my brothers. (I have two brothers and two sisters.) That feeling was reinforced last week when my oldest brother came for a quick NYC visit with his wife. When he left, both Sean (my youngest son) and I were not happy. We negotiated that he would come for a longer visit in the summer when the weather was nicer.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re from a large family, you have different relationships with each sibling. As the youngest, I happen to adore my oldest brother James. I both love and like him. He is the shyest of the five kids. He is also the quietest, so when he speaks, we all listen. I remember him being my protector and my ally. (As the \u201cbaby\u201d of the family, he would always fend for me\u2026even when I was in the wrong<\/strong>!) Now as a woman, I appreciate the type of man that he is. He is such a solid man<\/strong>. He loves God, his wife and his family. He is dependable, smart, hard-working and talented. I would be more than thrilled if my sons grew up to be like him (and their Daddy, of course).<\/p>\n My brother lives in Virginia with the vast majority of my family, so he doesn\u2019t get to spend a lot of times with my boys. I was so happy to see that they bonded so quickly though. Sean was able to spend the most time with him, because he came during the school week. (That is why Sean staged a protest when it was time for my brother to leave.) They connected over one of Sean\u2019s favorite things\u2026puzzles! My brother got down on the floor with Sean and they had a \u201cWho can finish their puzzle first?\u201d competition. When Sean won the first time, I mentioned to my brother, \u201cYou don\u2019t have to let him win. We let them lose sometimes.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m not letting<\/strong> him!\u201d my brother responded. Suffice it to say, at the end of my brother\u2019s stay, the tally was Sean: 4\/Brother: 0. (I was cracking up, because they were both talking trash and cheating by the end\u2026all in good fun.)<\/p>\n Although my brother\u2019s stay was brief, he made sure that he was able to spend some bonding time with Michael too. James doesn\u2019t like video games, but he played when he found out that Michael really loves them. We warned him that Michael was really good at the Wii boxing game. (He is notorious for knocking adults out!) When they played, Michael won the first two games. Then, I remembered that my brother was a lefty too. We switched his character\u2019s profile to be left-handed\u2026and finally, he won!<\/p>\n Take a peek\u2026<\/p>\n Michael winning<\/strong>
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