When
we’re together, my younger brother wastes no time telling anyone new that I
made him weird.
He
is seven years younger than me, and as I took him on as my own personal ward throughout
his early childhood, I taught him the art of the knock-knock joke, the thrill
of yelling swear words into a room full of adults, and the beauty of dressing up like an elf, a
dog, a girl, AND Michael Jackson.
The
guy probably has the best sense of humor of anyone I know.
As
we grew up and I moved out, I could clearly see the seeds of random weirdness
sprout and bloom within his personality, and recall telling him in all sincerity
during my and then his own Beastie Boys-obsession, that I would name a future
male child “Mike D” and train him to respond “Aww, yeah, that’s ME” anytime he
was called by name.
I
don’t think my brother will ever forgive me for not following through on that
promise.
I
never planned on being weird, never thought that my weirdness would translate
in the real world to humor or happiness or anything positive at all. I thought it would mark me as a crazy person,
unable to form real relationships and bonds with other, more “normal” people
who don’t hang onto crazy song lyrics even well past their period of relevance.
I
never thought my weirdness would stick to my brother, hurl me through some
genuinely bizarro experiences in my twenties, ultimately attract my
straight-as-an-arrow and woefully non-weird husband, and then affix itself to our
two children.
But they've lived their entire lives being raised by me - how did I
think anything else would happen?
This
photo was taken after my son’s very last baseball game of the summer, well
after a decent dinner time, at an old new favorite bar that my husband and I
like to frequent due to their good, cheap food and drinks. Our children, who have learned to love wings
and crab fries and Shirley Temples like every good bar patron’s children
should, finished their meals and obligingly posed for the camera.
Hey,
kids, it's officially summer. Smile.
*******
This post inspired by:
Prompt #3: Share your top favorite photo you took in June. Give us the back story.
I love the picture! They look happy. It looks like this weird thing is working.
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good around here. My husband is outnumbered.
DeleteThis makes me so happy on so many levels, mainly because my girls are seven years apart.
ReplyDeleteJust think of the things your older can teach the younger... and then lock up the younger, maybe?
DeletePS- WEIRD IS GOOD ;)
ReplyDeleteWhew! We're good, then. :)
DeleteThe Beasties ROCK! As do you and your weird kids! ;D
ReplyDeleteI would have never pegged you for a Beasties fan, but I don't know why not - they do rock! I also don't know why I never taught my son to respond that way anyway.
DeleteWeird is the best :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela! Around here, it fits. xo
DeleteI like weird. Which explains why I LOVE you!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alison! You're the sweetest. xxoo
Deletehaha! I love it. It shows character.
ReplyDeleteI did listen to the song!
Character is something that we have for sure! I listened to the song, too. I might have even sang all the words. :)
DeleteI LOVE weird!
ReplyDeleteWell then you would get along just fine here! :)
DeleteWeird is good. And Shirley Temples rock!
ReplyDeleteI know, right? They are a guilty pleasure of mine. Or not so guilty, truthfully.
DeleteOh, I consider it a necessity to make my kids as weird as possible. I need them to entertain me as payment for my parenting them.
ReplyDeletePsssht. Truth.
Delete