Moe

memories from a mother-written 10/24/04

I over heard a conversation between my 5 and 2 year old.  I had just picked up Hannah from Kindergarten and I had surprised them with the thought of picking up lunch at a fast food drive-thru.  Of course when I asked them where they wanted to go I got two different answers and the controversy began.  I told them that if they couldn't work it out between them I was going to make the decision for them.  My 5 year old suggested that they do eneey meeny to decide.  My 2 year old thought that was fair.  So Hannah begins... she is pronounced Moe.  There was a silence and calm that took over the car.  The choice had been made by the hand of fate.   On my way to Moe's choice, I realized that I was going to pass by the other choice and it wouldn't take any time to just get what each of them wanted.  So as I turned into the parking lot, my 2 year old begins to protest loudly, "Hannah is Moe mom! Hannah is Moe!"  She refused to let me get her anything from the place she wanted to go in the first place.  After all,  once Moe is determined, it is sacred and no one questions the outcome.  I found that quite remarkable for a 2 year old to be able to accept that she wasn't Moe and had fought so hard for her sister's privilege.

I miss watching my girls interact with each other.  They are now 10 and 13.   Currently, they are separated and I watch as my 13 year old becomes more and more like an only child.   It is idiocy.  They are losing such precious time with each other.  The bond that siblings make from the beginning of life should be the ultimate important thing.  Why I seem to be the only one worried about it is beyond me.   So the only thing I can do is to remind my daughter of stories of them growing up and we watch movies of them running around happily as best playmates.  And I keep hoping if I do that, she will remember her sister that way, any way at all.   Life is sacred and life goes by so fast.   They are losing time that is rightfully theirs.   A relationship that is rightfully theirs.   Amazing that it is treated so nonchalantly by people.