Hats off to me!

****Edited because it has come to my attention that part of this was interpreted in a way that was NOT intended at all****

Sibling rivalry, it’s as old as Adam and Eve, well at least as old as their first two offspring anyway, and I am not immune. Despite the 2 years and 9 months age difference between me and my lone sibling, my older brother Trevor, there has always been a bit of a competition on my side of things.

I actually doubt he has ever felt the need to out do me in any aspect of things since he was always smarter than the average bear. Actually that’s a huge understatement.

He always sailed through school with little to no effort on account of his ability to remember everything he ever sees or reads. Me, not so much. I had to work at least twice as hard and it irked me, just a little, no? Probably you got that eh?

It was actually a really good thing, this sibling competition, as it pushed me to strive for much greater success academically than I likely would have otherwise. We were both A students throughout elementary and high school, so much so that I don’t EVER recall our parents having to intervene in any way in our homework habits. Basically we did it on our own.

Now that’s not to say that they didn’t help me out (not sure smarty pants Trevor ever needed any help). I had enormous trouble with math, specifically fractions (gotta love that I became an accountant huh!) and I remember getting so angry and frustrated with myself that I must have been an utter joy to work with. ‘Course I only saved that sort of behavior for my dear old mom and dad. I guess I know where Jack gets that from now don’t I?

As kids, my brother, having no other choice on our road trips, (every summer we would pack up the van and head on a lengthy trip that involved camping our way through various areas of Western and Eastern Canada) would try to coerce me into playing some sort of game with him. This was back in the day where we free to roam the van at our leisure and spent much of the trip lying on the bed at the back, reading, sleeping and playing games. Chess was a favourite of Trevor’s but frankly, even at the tender age of 8, watching paint dry had more appeal to me than playing chess, especially with a kid who actually read books on the subject (I kid you NOT).

Now, I don’t have a need to always win, I am not that competitive. However, I do need not to be beat blind EVERY time I play a game. It’s not fun to lose all the time and yes, I am a very sore loser when it’s All. The. Time. So understandably so, he had a bit of trouble getting me to play.

However, finally, FINALLY, I have found a couple of games where I am just a little bit better than smarty pants.

Taboo is a fantastic game that involves getting your teammates to guess the word listed but without saying any of the “taboo” words also listed on the card. It usually involves much laughter and general silliness. It’s a great time weather you win or lose. And Trevor, well, he LOST. In his defense, he took it well. So well that he and his wife, Nicole, had to stay one more night at the lake to have a rematch. Hee hee. And his team did narrowly win this time but last year and the first game this year, my team annihilated his! I even documented it very clearly on the score sheet for proof next year, I am kinda anal like that.

And with the help of my 80’s loving hubby, we beat him at 80’s Trivial Pursuit too. Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy!

But all kidding aside, he’s a great guy and I am lucky to have him as a bro. He has never treated me with anything other than respect and dignity. He always stood up for me when we were kids and believe me, he could defend with smart ass comments better than anybody else, hands down. He is a good guy to have on your side and he married the greatest woman for him. They were custom made for each other and together we all have loads of fun.

Here’s to siblings!