Show We Invented Rivalry By FLORENCE BITTNER My mother had probably never heard of sibling rivalry when she was raising her brood of six girls and a single single single sin sin- gle boy but she later claimed we invented it When I was wasa a wise college student I informed informed in in- formed her that middle children children children chil chil- dren often come out of a family seriously damaged she cocked a skeptical eye at meI meI me I never noticed you needed any special help holding your own I did though but with that many combatants Mother was sometimes less hasty to intervene intervene intervene inter inter- vene than I am prone to do Dads Dad's theory was to It Let Let em lem fight it out As long longas as we only used words and our two hands they figured we wouldn't become permanently permanently perma perma- marred and in a house houseas as small as ours OW'S we needed some way out to work out the frustrations from a long longwinter longwinter longwinter winter in the house WHEN my brother who was growing up among all those girls the town decided he was sure to be a sissy They waited and waited to say sayI sayI I ItI told you so but instead he turned the two sisters on either side of him into tom tom- boys Mother lother said I wasn't left handed until he began making me use my left hand because he used that hand When I Iwas Iwas Iwas was learning to feed myself he always took the spoon out of my right hand and put it itin itin itin in my left like all normal people I still harbor some resentment for this gift he gave me MRS Cooper who lived next door and who waited most eagerly for Roy Hoy to show signs of oC becoming nal chortled gleefully one day when she saw him hauling all my dolls outside She didn't watch long enough however since she had to hurry to the phone to report this latest tom What she didn't see was him dropping each one tenderly down the hole in the backyard backyard backyard back back- yard outhouse I remember wailing loudly as I looked down the hole and saw them lying there beyond human help ONE Christmas morning he baked my Christmas doll We smelled it long before we found it iJ You know I dont don't think Ive I've forgiven him for that yet yeL either It was such a pretty doll and I didn't get to play with it even once He made up for it though He let me meride meride meride ride his new wagon down the hill first I think Jean could howl loudest but it was Iris I had to watch out for Iris carried a mean grudge One day Naomi was sweeping the kitchen floor and when out floor was swept there was something to show for it Iris came in the back door and clomped through the pile of dirt Remembering Naomi in in- lists she didn't catch Iris but butI I remember watching as Naomi chased her three laps around the house and finally caught her in the back of the head with the broom IRIS got her revenge though She watched where Naomi stashed her new chew of gum and carefully folded a little lump of cayenne pepper Naomi insists it raised blisters all the way down We all shared beds except Roy and since no one had heard of central heating we were all glad of bed partners when there was ice on the inside windowsill One January January January Jan Jan- uary night I was mad at my sister for some forgotten rea rea- son I woke up early looked at her sleeping peacefully hugging her pillow and I got my revenge I reached up to the brass bedstead held my hands there till they were numb with cold then I carefully placed them right in the middle of her back AFTER we were grown she had managed to with laugh she effort said she remembered remember remember- ed setting a track record for forgetting forgetting forgetting getting out of bed She also set a family record for landing landing landing land land- ing in the middle of a sister I was on the younger end of the middle of the family and to me it seemed the big kids got all the breaks but I guess they had their problems too what with little sisters who snitched their best clothes to play dress up with and hung around when boys came cam to call and begged for nickles to buy an ice cream cone WE lived through our sibling rivalries without too many serious scars and only one or two visible ones In spite of our loud and frequent battles battles battles bat bat- we have remained a close and loving family Maybe Maybe Maybe May May- be we are so close now partly because we Fought it out as children I remind myself of that frequently when I my own children fb |