The Tom and Jerry of Our Family

Growing up in a home full of girl children, one would think that parents of girls must have it very calm, peaceful, or demure, like the GenZ would refer to it, they are girls after all, not boys who are known for their masculine stubbornness, but the reverse is the case in my own home.

Thankfully, I belong to the millennial generation, and mum and dad gave me enough of their time for pampering and being the only child for about 4 years before the birth of my sister, and other two that followed. So yea, I was the elder one who stood out, but the others were not so lucky to have many age difference between them, I guess mum and dad just decided to have them once and for all and not waste any more time again, afterall they will still be the one to take care of them, no matter the gap or age difference.

But I bet they didn't think about signing up for settling many sibling quarrels and banter as much as my sisters had them, especially entering into the pre-teen and teenage years. The baby of the house, our last born was out of it, though, same as myself. But the middle two T and J were like cat and rat, or better still, Tom and Jerry lol. They had less than 2 years age difference between them. Still, J, the youngest of the two, was always the overpowering one,as she was sort of a tomboy.

They often fought for silly things like who would take the large portion of food served, even though mum had the best measuring skill when dishing out our food, she often served us in the same size bowl plate, I go first to take mine, and some days I don't even care, but their keen eyes would always spot which was more, normally, T as the oldest among the two, and was supposed to pick her food first. Still, her sluggish and slender self was no match for our masculine, fast, and powerful sister J, who would often beat her to it, leaving T frustrated and tearful. I would watch from the sidelines, shaking my head, wondering how they couldn't just get along. But despite their differences, they were the closest and loved each other deep down

T would often cry to mum, who would send her back and tell her to be strong in defending herself since she was the oldest She would say, "You're the older one, T. You need to learn how to defend yourself." and sometimes T tried, but most times, she lost to J, Dad on the other hand would sometimes intervene, scolding J for her behavior and reminding her that she's not the oldest.

As an adult now, I realize that our parents' approach to handling our disputes, though it didn't seem good to us then, was intentional because they taught us how to resolve conflicts and work through our differences. One thing was sure in our home, we didn't know how to keep malice. There were sure times when we would go to bed angry, refusing to speak to each other. But the next morning, when we woke up, everything would have been forgotten. Well, almost everything, and we all go back to our normal daily routine, most of all, our love for each other overpowers all.

Looking back, I realize that our family feud wasn't just about sibling rivalry; it taught us how to have cordial relationships with others, know when to compromise, and also forgive easily. We've had our fair share of disagreements, but we've also learned to laugh together, support each other, and love each other unconditionally.

We are all adults now. J is calmer, not the Tomboy again; T is sure no longer the quiet one, but I still remain on the side watching them have that closeness as they did all their lives, and when we relive funny memories, we can't help but laugh to our fill.

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