brother love

It can be very enriching to listen in on my two older boys' (those are the ones who can use words!) conversations at times. I love it. Yes, they do fight on given days. And their arguements can get quite loud...sometimes I wonder what the neighbors must think! But they usually work it out, although I do occasionally make a ruling.

Still, when they're getting along, I'll hear things like "Ben, what is a swug?" (aka, slug; Kyle's Rs an Ls still sound like Ws). Or, indignant, "Ben!!! You just poked me with your ewbow!" Or even "Ben...awe you a gwown-up?" Kyle can certainly stand up for himself, but he knows that big brother Benjamin has a lot of experience that he doesn't have. After all, five-year-olds are pretty worldly-wise. Oh, excuse me. Five-and-a-half-year-olds.

And Benjamin does have wisdom to share. The other day I overheard him giving Owen a lesson on push-ups, the traditional kind as well as backwards push-ups. He was very serious and kept reassuring Owen that when he was older, he too would be able to do backwards push-ups. Owen is currently mastering the skill of pushing himself up on his hands to survey his world, so he's got some time on his hands.

I love to listen in on their childish, sweet, somewhat skewed conversations about life and the world around them. There are some real gems if you take the time to tune in.