When Lone Ranger has one of her besties over I don’t hear a peep. They run up to her room and hang out there for hours, coloring, playing with her Calico Critters, writing stories together—basically any activity that involves giggling and chit chat. They only emerge to munch on popcorn or bake cookies or gather their shoes and coats to head home. I don’t have to referee, moderate, redirect, or correct. It’s just love, butterflies, and sunshine.
Now, on the other hand…subtract her BFFs and add a dash of Brown Sugar or TD. What you get doesn’t always equal a day of wine and roses. It’s more like whine and ruckus.
Just what is it with family? They know you best, and they sometimes hurt you the most. Think Tank knows TD hates enclosed, dark spaces—which is exactly why he traps him under a blanket. Lone Ranger knows which swing is Brown Sugar’s favorite, so that’s the one she hops in. Crusader knows how much Songbird hates the nickname he gave her, so that’s the way he greets her when he comes home. But then Maven toasts Brown Sugar’s jelly sandwiches just the way she likes them: crispy and light brown. Only Lone Ranger can make TD laugh when she washes (and conditions) his hair. When Crusader visits, he and Think Tank talk and horse around until the wee hours. Songbird will spend an entire Saturday afternoon playing doctor’s office with the whole crew. Brown Sugar will help anybody with…anything. And TD loves to let loose with…everybody.
My little people love deeply, play rough, and fight to the death.
This love/hate relationship is running freely in my other “home,” the United States. Just like family, we’re joined by blood—blood shed voluntarily and involuntarily by our ancestors to secure freedoms, build our nation, and fight bigotry. Yet we bless and curse each other—feeding the homeless we don’t know but starving our nearest and dearest who hunger for a kind word; protesting the building of physical walls while erecting impenetrable barriers between family, neighbors, and friends; professing acceptance and inclusion while excluding and hating beliefs that differ from our own; showing love for people outside our borders while hating our countrymen living within them. Loving God, hating your fellow man.
I teach my little people they can’t treat their friends better than they treat their family. I wish I could gather my country’s people around my table to study that same lesson. If only Songbird could make it better with a Doc McStuffins bandage.
“If someone says, I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” 1 John 4:20
Oh I love this post! Our country desperately needs stronger families and it starts with us, Moms. <3 Reminds me of an excellent book a read a few years ago with my kiddos, "Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends". It was written by three homeschooled siblings and full of the funny stories and cartoons that kids just love (and awesome lessons about loving each other that parents just love). Thanks for the reminder, Robin!
Thanks, Shar! Staying true to our “first love” starts in the mission field of the home. And thanks for the tip on the book. Blessings!
*Also, now I want to give lovable nicknames to each of my children… So fun! <3
Not all of them are this cute, believe me! 🙂