It’s On

So, I’ve got the full-on sinus experience going on. I’m multi-sneeze-matic. I’ve got a nose like a pomegranate. I bought some Puffs-Plus today, but I’m trying to figure out what the “Plus” is. I know it’s supposed to be lotion, but it smells like something else. Puffs Plus-Stink. Puffs Plus-the-Overwhelming-Smell-Of-Old-Cardboard. Puffs Plus-I-Actually-Kind-Of-Wish-I-Were-More-Congested-So-I-Wouldn’t-Be-Able-To-Smell-This. It’s gross. They don’t usually have a smell. Maybe it’s a bad batch?

Had to go out early today for The Princess to get her hair cut. So now she no longer looks as if she’s being raised by wolves. It was supposed to be foggy this morning, and then clear up. Lies.

Edison was just playing so sweetly with The Princess.  He was showing her how to do magic tricks with his magic set, praising her for her little imaginary play.  He is so wonderful with little kids.  Many of the mothers in the neighborhood have even commented on it.  He’s the oldest kid in our extended family, and he is always so sweet with his younger cousins, entertaining and performing for them, guiding them gently when necessary.

When I was on the nest with Edison, I had hoped for a boy.  Manfrengensen had questioned why, and I told him that I had always wanted a big brother growing up.  You know, someone to stick up for me, look out for me, pave my way.  He laughed. “That’s because you didn’t have a big brother.”  He knew from experience, that more often than looking out for you, big brothers actually try to get you into trouble.  They lay blame on you, they sit on you.  They grab your hands and force you to punch yourself while teasing, “Why are you punching yourself?  Why are you punching yourself?”  They get a kick out of that kind of thing.  It’s just part of the genetic make-up of being the older sibling.  It’s a natural alignment of the chromosomes.

I tend to think that Edison isn’t really that kind of kid. He came over here to get something, and I praised him for playing so sweetly with her.  “You’re such a great big brother,” I said.

Then she came over and wanted to show him something. “Close your eyes,” she said with the excited anticipation of her plan written in her expression.  And in true big brother fashion, he blinked to tease her.  She groaned exasperatedly and begged him again.  He blinked again, grinning from ear to ear.  That “big brother” Eddie-Haskel thing is hard to keep down.  No matter how sweetly he treats her, the true perks of being the big brother always seem to assert themselves.