Super Brothers

Marc Brown (author of the Arthur books) is quoted as saying/writing "Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero." I don't know about that, but I do know that sometimes it can take superhuman resolve to get along with your brother. Wesley and Ryan have been doing a fantastic job with that lately! Most evening the boys will play something together. It might be pulling the cushions off the couch to jump on them, or chasing each other around the dining room, but it's together and they don't fight.

I've been pretty impressed with the self control and ingenuity Wesley has shown with some things related to Ryan. Like stickers. Wesley and Ryan both got stickers for Easter. Wesley immediately asked for some paper and used up every single sticker he had. Two weeks later, he has no stickers, but Ryan still has some. I won't let Wesley use Ryan's stickers, so he has come up with an alternative plan. He'll sit with Ryan and take the stickers off the backing for his little brother, then hand Ryan the sticker. It actually works remarkably well and keeps them both entertained.

Then we get the more typical brother interactions like we had yesterday. Ryan went into Wesley's room with me when it was time to get ready in the morning. I pulled two shirts out of the closet and held them up so Wesley could choose one. Ryan immediately pointed to the shirt on the left. Wesley turned to Ryan and said, "No Ryan! I get to pick!" He turned back to the shirts and before he could make a decision, Ryan pointed to the one on the left again. Wesley yelled, "Ryan! Stop!," then turned back to the shirts. Once again Ryan pointed to the one on the left before Wesley could choose. "Ryan!" Wesley yelled, "You don't get to wear these shirts! I do!" I told Wesley to please pick a shirt. He looked at them for a second, then picked the one on the left!

Later that same morning we were driving to Grandma and Grandpa P.'s. The sun was shining brightly and Wesley asked for his sunglasses. He put them on and then Ryan started whining for his sunglasses too. I handed them back to Ryan, knowing he wouldn't be able to get them on by himself. Sure enough, Wesley started hollering "Ryan! They're upside down! Turn them over! NO! Turn them over!" I asked Wesley to please stop yelling at his brother. "But Mom, Ryan doesn't know how to put his sunglasses on and I'm teaching him." I didn't hold out much hope that yelling at Ryan would teach him how to put his sunglasses on, but since I was driving down the freeway, there wasn't much I could do about it.

Another minute of yelling passed before I looked in the rear view mirror. There was Ryan, sitting with his sunglasses on correctly! "Mom! Ryan put his glasses on!" Wesley exclaimed. Then he turned to Ryan and said, "Good job buddy! Gimme a high five!" and they slapped hands across their car seat. Maybe there is something to that superhero thing after all.