Lord Help the Mister

I've had the opportunity to spend some serious quality time with my nieces this week and it's been nothing if not entertaining.

My sister and I are pretty close. Actually, we're the closest of the entire family. Some days I don't know what I would do without her, well, I do know, I'd be lost. She's my rock. My sounding board. My biggest fan. My harshest critic. I always go to her when there's something wrong and she always has a great piece of advice to give me. And while I may not always agree with her, in the end, she helps me out more than I could have helped myself. When either of us have had a bad day we'll call the other and just gab about it for about 15 minutes and then it's over and we feel better. While we realize that it's a given in adulthood that not all days are wine and roses, sometimes venting about it and seeing where we need to get over it helps, and that's why having someone to do that with is good.

The interesting part of all of this is to see my niece's relationship with each other. It's interesting to me to see that dynamic at such a young age. The disagreements, the things they fight over, the way they get along, that fierce love that some sisters have for each other, the way that they are each others rock. It's strange and difficult to understand but very heartwarming to see.

Don't get me wrong, having a sister is awesome. But it's also extremely difficult. Sometimes the relationship isn't all it's cracked up to be. And you do have to go through the regular growing pains in the relationship but in the end, having a sister is pretty awesome.

Now in the case of my nieces, they are as different as night and day. One is quiet and introspective, the other loud and a little ... how you say...crazy at times. One has a short temper, the other can be mean. Yet no matter what, they adore each other. They can scrap like you would not believe but when one of them is hurting, look out. The younger one fell on the weekend and who was there to soothe her and try to calm her down? Her sister. And the other one was getting into trouble the other night and the younger one came to her rescue. The youngest is always thinking of her big sister and the older one will do anything she can to make sure the younger doesn't go without (well, sometimes).

My sister and I are hoping that they recognize just how important it is to have a sister and how much she means to the other. We're also hoping that they recognize the importance of the relationship and how you don't do things to hurt the other one. Everyone fights of course, but it's how you fight and what you're fighting about that's important. Case in point, the younger one was misbehaving and when caught, tried to pin the blame on someone, or something else. We talked about taking responsibility for her actions. And why it's important to understand when you've done something wrong. Lord knows we don't want her reaching adulthood and still blaming everyone else for all her problems.

I'm pretty pleased that we've had this time to spend together. Yesterday we went and had a picnic at the river and watched all the boats going by. The older one told me that she wanted to just sit there and enjoy the moments (I know!) and the younger one came and snuggled up to the two of us.

This is what I love about my sister. No matter what we do, how we do it, or where we do it, as long as we spend the time together, it's fun. The kids may look at us strangely sometimes but in the end, we don't care. My sister is there for me and gives to me more than I could ever repay her. Having that relationship is what I'm grateful for most. I couldn't ask for anything else in life but to have my sister in my life.

Although, I have to agree with my oldest niece on one respect. We were driving down the street in London the other day when we stopped at a light waiting to turn. There was a pregnant woman and a little girl at the corner waiting to cross. My younger niece said "that lady is getting ready to borned (sic) a baby". I said yes she was. My older niece piped up "that little girl is going to be a big sister". Again, I pointed out, yes she was. She finished with "I wonder if anyone told her how annoying it would be."

Hmmm. Elizabeth, I would have to agree with you there.