Often times when I see my sisters girls, and they are being treated unfairly or something happens, they will ask me questions about my youth. They want to know if grandma and grandpa were as unreasonable as their parents, or who was the worst sibling growing up?

I laugh because looking back, I don’t think my parents were allllll that unreasonable. At the time I am sure I thought they were Satan’s helpers, but being a parent now I realize all of our restrictions and punishments came with purpose, and out of love. That being said, I still don’t agree with some of them.

Arianna’s favorite question for me is, who got in more trouble growing up? You or mommy? I laugh because my sister definitely had a bigger attitude, in my opinion, but I was sneaky and always blaming things on her. I could take the littlest incident and turn it into a detailed elaborate story, with me being the victim every time. As we got older, we grew closer and I cared less about getting her in trouble, and more about being social. I have seen Arianna and Hailey have some intense fights. I don’t remember ours being that bad.

I see them blaming each other when something isn’t put away or a task was not completed. I hear them call each other brats and wishing they were only children. Hailey will be starting middle school next year and Arianna is holding strong that she won’t let Hailey sit with her on the bus, or help her get adjusted to her new school. She thinks because she had to figure it out on her own, Hailey should as well. I am pretty confident that will change, but she’s going to let her sister sweat it out all summer.

I always make a point to let the girls know that while my sister and I weren’t best friends growing up, and have very different personalities, we found a way to put that all aside when we got older. We talk/text almost every day now, and are pretty good about making sure we get together as often as time allows. We both share in the same belief that family is important, and should be there for each other. We also make sure that all the grand babies get to see Grandma and Grandpa as often as possible.

I look at my own children and wonder what the future holds for them. We have already had basic conversations with CJ about him looking after Ella when we are not around anymore. He has assured us that she will have her own wing in his mansion, and he will make sure that Dani is there to help her. Ella looks at CJ in the most loving way. You can tell she feels safe and loved around him.

CJ still asks for Jack to be put up for adoption on a daily basis, but I know that comes from a place of frustration. Right now he doesn’t like that Jack grabs everything he is playing with, or that he constantly wants to be around him. I wish he could see that Jack adores him. He laughs at anything he does and his head spins to find him every time he hears his voice. I know as Jack grows, despite the age difference, they will become a lot closer. Right now he’s just the annoying little brother.

Family can be complicated, but Steve and I try to instill the importance of always being there for each other. As the kids grow up, we know there will be challenges, but hope coming home will always be a priority.

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