sibling rivalry

When I was a baby, my sister was about 4 or 5 years old. And it makes perfect sense that I was a near perfect baby: mellow, good-natured and generally happy. My parents and other relatives would marvel at how I never cried.* My older sister was a bit peeved by this, and she was set to make things right. So she bit me. It was completely logical to her: everyone thought I didn't cry, and she a good way to prove them wrong. Of course she got in a bit of trouble for that and I was still seen as the perfect child.

When my little brother was born, my sister was 9 and I was 5. We celebrated his 18th birthday a few days ago, and my sister can remember everything about his day of birth - that it was raining, how she helped pick his name, what he was going to be named if he was a girl, etc. Sure, I was younger, but my main memory from that day was that I got these awesome rainbow barrettes!! [A gift to appease me so I wouldn't feel as left out...it only worked for a little bit.]

*My memory of these events is probably biased, seeing as I have no recollection of them.