"Bite me!" my four-year-old lion taunts, giggles, and leaps off the couch.
Her tiger sister slings a hug around the lion's neck, and wrestles her to the ground. Despite the four extra pounds her lioness older sister has on her, the tiger cub uses her denser weight and pins her older sister to the ground.
Giggles shriek up from the carpet.
Shouts of "no, no, no" are eclipsed by more laughter.
They roll around. They hug. They bounce on each others' tummies.
And then the tide turns.
A hair is pulled.
A foot is too confined.
A shirt gets stretched.
A pair of lungs is smothered.
A set of teeth graze the skin.
The tension builds, I watch in dread as I see the giggles ebb and the monster growls from both tiger and lion merge in the air.
Do I tame the lion and tiger before the tears and pushes and bites surface?
Well, I try.
I intercept.
I say the famous line "That's enough!"
But I'm always, always too late.
So tears come and go.
Sister cats are separated.
Anger is dispelled.
And my girls slink back into their joyful smiles and hug.
Most of the time.
11 comments:
My brother and I always wrestled like a couple of crazy idiots from the time we were about the ages of your two girls until about the age of 12 or so. No one got hurt (too much), but, we sure did wreck a lot of the house including lamps, walls stands, drapes, etc.
You're doing the right thing to just let them go as far as they want to, they'll get over it quick enough and will always have each others back.
So wonderful. This dripped with intensity. And the cute picture added to the imago (stolen from Rach's 2nd campaign challenge).
Sisterhood captured perfectly. What you described applies metaphorically too :)
oh, how I relate to this both as a sister and mom of two sisters. Very nice!
So funny and sweet. I have 2 boys and they are CRAZY. Only at 2 and 3.5 years old. Entertaining...yes it is. But I'm terrified for when they get older. And bigger. I'll have to encourage them to 'take it outside' I suppose...and hope no one gets seriously injured.
That's the best thing about siblings isn't it?
Great description of a sibling fight! This is what my 2 kids do to each other too although they're more like crabs pinching at each other rather than tigers :)
This is the joy of siblings, isn't it? Learning to play, cooperate, compromise, negotiate. Learning how far is too far within the safety of your own family. Being accepted and loved (eventually :)) even when you make mistakes. And always having each other :)
You described that so well!! I know those sibling fights VERY well ;)
Oh, yes, I know all about this w/ 2 boys. It's all fun & games till someone bites someone for real!
This is beautiful. I love the analogy of kids play (rough housing we call it) likened to Big Cats playing. --So true.
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