“No wonder they mobilize all their energy to have more or most. Or better still, all.”

Add to that the envy that one child feels for the accomplishments of the other;

I was a wonderful parent before I had children.

From their verbal sparring they learn the difference between being clever and being hurtful.

The personal frustrations that they don’t dare let out on anyone else but a brother or sister,

I was an expert on why everyone else was having problems with theirs. Then I had three of my own.

From their endless rough-housing with each other, they develop speed and agility.

I was a wonderful parent before I had children.

Our job is to let our children know what’s right about them.

Comforters for our todays / Guardians of memories

We put him in touch with his inner reality.

From their struggles to establish dominance over each other, siblings become tougher and more resilient.

And sometimes, from their envy of each other’s special abilities they become inspired to work harder, persist and achieve.

Content in our connectedness / we are brothers and sisters / after all.

No one cares / who is better / who is worse / who has more / who has less.

From the normal irritations of living together, they learn how to assert themselves, defend themselves, compromise.

The whole world will tell them what’s wrong with them–out loud and often.

There is a mortal breed most full of futility. In contempt of what is at hand, they strain into the future, hunting impossibilities on the wings of ineffectual hopes.

The damned cats like pushing the reset button on my computer.

The sign brings customers.

I just tried to remember how far you can love and how many states

The ministry of bearing with one another is learning to hear God speak through difficult people.

We participate in the creation of the world by decreating ourselves.

At the age of three my grand aunt proclaimed her independence by categorically refusing to have her feet bound, resolutely tearing off the bandages as fast as they were applied.

Never call a man a fool; borrow from him