Your Day Will Come

When you're the younger brother of two, no, THREE teenage girls, you have to get used to sacrifice. The girls will have seemingly more important things to do like high school homework, so time after time you'll have to pull on your sneakers and go get the dog who is barking out in the cold. You'll have to be the one not to have a friend over because the girls have several activities that Mom has to get them to, and well, when you need a hair cut, you may have to wait weeks because the girls might need to make special trips to get make-up, phone cards, and flashdrives.

You might spend a lot of time on the Wii, which you enjoy but not more than playing outside in the snow with someone just as enthusiastic about making snow forts as you are. You might play on Mom's school laptop because everyone is busy on Facebook, something Mom won't let you get close to yourself until you're 15 or 16 years old at least. (At least you can hold out hope for a cell phone and an ipod when you go to the Middle School next year...)

But when you're as sweet a younger brother as this, you find that you are by no means invisible or neglected. You might have to be extra patient, but your day will come often enough. There are days like today when Mom zips home to tell you she's gotten you a 4pm hair appointment at the shop you prefer over the other one that cuts your hair too short or that pulls your hair, an appointment that will finally get that hair out of your eyes before your 5:30pm basketball game. You'll realize it's a day when Mom comes home with Nutty bars, chocolate chip cookies, and cinnamon swirl bread because she knows you've gone without junk food long enough this week when she didn't have time to go grocery shopping last weekend.

It's a day when your sister doesn't squawk about tagging along with Mom to attend your basketball game, where they will quietly cheer you on as you take quick glances over to them to make sure that they saw that awesome pass you made. It's a day when your Mom will suggest you all watch that movie you wanted to see, and you watch it together over bowls of pasta, and you all laugh at the good parts and you all sit on the edge of your seats when the plot gets intense. It's a day when you will happily turn in for the night without being asked, because it has been a day of pure satisfaction.

When you're the younger brother of two, no THREE teenage girls, you will give your Mom the night she most needed this Friday, a night of watching basketball, eating pasta, and watching a movie with the best 11 year old boy in the world.