Snow in August?

Ah, the joys of teenagers. We got TP'd by some girls last night. Between my handsome 17-year-old son who has dated several of the girls, and his older sister who coaches the girls in basketball, I think we were doomed when they decided to get together for a team building event. I don't really mind the getting TP'd part. I'm glad that those girls think enough of the two of them to make us a stop on their midnight running around. It's the arguing between the two of them about who is going to clean it up that makes my eyes cross and steam come out my ears. At almost 17 and 20, you would think that I would have given them the skills by this point to be able to settle it in a fair way. But I still get the familiar , "Moooommm.... he/she won't...." I hope they can act more adult out in the world.



At what point do we, if ever, make the transition out of seeing our parents as the arbiters of arguements with our siblings? As much as I love my sister, and think she is a great person now, I don't believe I ever really cared what she was thinking when I was growing up. If she had anything against the way I acted, I certainly didn't give it enough credence to commit it to memory. Certainly the fact that we haven't lived together in 30 years, or even in the same state for that period probably has contributed to the genial feelings I have for her now.



Is it the time heals all wounds theory? I can kind of see that with my children now. My oldest, who had multiple issues as a child, didn't have very good social skills. Her siblings kind of saw her as a creature from Mars on her good days, and spawn of the devil on bad days. Time and distance have mostly removed the horns from her head, but they tend to peek out when they spend more than a few hours together.