Alison’s cousin is about six months older than her. Which means people have been comparing them since, oh, about the moment she was born. Possibly even sooner, as she poked her foot around in my belly. I recognized fairly early on that comparing them was like comparing apples to oranges: one you can bite right into, the other needs some careful peeling. One is rough, the other smooth. Both fruits have great characteristics but you can’t really say one is better tasting, because an apple is an APPLE, and an orange is an ORANGE. Of course, if you are the mother of an orange or an apple, you may have a preference.
So for the past 4 1/2 years, Alison’s cousin has come over to play and each time there are tears, frustration, temper tantrums. Toy snatching, pouting, hugs and kisses. Time-outs, noses to corners, missed naps and promises to be best friends forever. A tumultuous relationship, to say the least. Last weekend Alison’s cousin came over and for the first time, EVER, there were no tears. They played together for HOURS, people. HOURS. I still can’t get over it. I even invited Alison’s cousin back “soon”. Which was yesterday, and maybe I had my hopes up way too high. Because not 5 minutes into the visit, Alison got run over by the JEEP. On PURPOSE. Which led to lots of tears, on both sides. Apples and Oranges, crying over the same event but for different reasons. Fortunately, a little Hello Kitty will solve just about any problem and they were back to playing in about half an hour. My greatest hope is that they’ll be more tolerant of each other’s differences as time goes on. My greatest fear is that my own two will end up polar opposites. Because apples and oranges living in the same household? THAT would send me to the loony bin for sure.
I call this one: “Peaceful Cooperation”
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