Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Games Our Sisters Play with Us

When I was younger, my five older sisters must have had a blast playing all sorts of games with me. Fortunately, there is little photographic evidence of their escapades. However, one time when I was two, they decided to dress me up as Prince Phillip (according to the captions in my picture book), and as you can see, the camera was out.

For them to get a mustache and a goatee looking like that, I must have been a very willing accomplice, but I also must have thought I could improve upon their artistic efforts. When they finished, my sisters left the mascara within my reach, leaving no limits to the expression of my artistic genius.

Fast forward twenty-six years. My son is just two and a half months old and only has two older sisters. Little, however, has changed. Just this last week they managed to get him to hold a tea cup while they pretended to pour him tea. At first, he didn't seem to know how to respond, but before long and with his mother's help, he was thrusting out the cup for more.



It was probably the same day that my wife and I happened to look over to where our son was sitting. His sisters had decided to make him a patron saint. Forget about recording and authenticating specific miracles performed by the saint-in-waiting. No, they decided to cut through all the red tape and just declare him to be a saint based on his angelic appearance.

Could you dispute their case? Besides, who needs all the paperwork to be considered a saint!?

On second thought, perhaps it would have been nice to see some more photographic evidence of the creative things my sisters used to do and thus recapture some of the innocent creativity and ingenuity of our own childhood. Oh to be young again!

Thanks, sisters, for all the games and fun!

5 comments:

Trena Doll said...

What an angel! :)
And, if I remember correctly, we pretty much had to secure your willing participation for any of our little plays or games. Even as a toddler, you were never the kind one could persuade to do anything against your will.

rantipoler said...

Speaking from lots of experience, it's good to be the big sister. I used to make my brothers play Barbies and My Little Ponies. They didn;t have much of a choice since I was older and bigger than them. Poor guys. They seemed to come out okay, though. :P

You make a great Prince Phillip!

fawndear said...

Yes, you had to be persuaded but it meant lots of bribery.-Lucky Boy! Can't tell you how happy I was that you came along because until you showed up I always had to play the boy. Being Prince Charming and Joseph for Christmas can certainly wear on a girls self-esteem.

M said...

Kind of like AL's, my little brother also overcame bouts of being forced to dress up. He's a Marine now. (Not that I hope your son is a Marine someday...just that even boys who have older sisters that make them play dress up, can be manly)

And besides, it's healthy to cross those gender-based stereotype lines from time to time, right?!?! ;-)

cking said...

I love that you added the prince charming photos:) Good thing your little boy is such a good sport!