The Sibling Contract

This weekend I spent some time helping Momma get her Christmas decorations out. And by helping her get her Christmas decorations out, I mean, I spent some time going through my box of childhood memories while she sorted through her dozens of totes of Christmas stuff. Momma has a box for each of us, and it is filled with random things like art projects, favorite toys, yearbooks, and that kind of thing.

While looking through my box, I stumbled upon a few contracts that my brothers and I had created. You see, growing up, Justin was a bit of a neat freak. He made his bed every morning. He kept our books in alphabetical order. He organized our toys. And he hated it when Josh and I would go into his room and mess it all up. In order to keep us out of his room, he decided to type up a contract that laid out the some rules. Basically, Josh and I had to stay out or else we owed him $3.... and if we didn't have the money, the fine would begin accruing interest.

We had to sign the contract, and then he held us to it. This resulted in me creating a contract to keep him out of my room because all he ever did when he was in there was tell me how I needed to clean it. In fact, his son has taken up the same habits. When Cash walks into my room, he tells me that it's a mess, and I need to clean, and he's usually right.

I don't know why Momma decided to keep these silly contracts and the notes we passed back and forth about them, but I'm glad she did. They remind me of the fun and fights we had growing up. It wasn't always easy being the youngest and the only girl, but I personally think I have the best birth order possible. I've been so blessed to have 2 big brothers to show me the ropes & keep me humble.

Luckily we no longer need to write out contracts to get along, and I now have the best sister-in-laws on my side should any disagreements come up.

:j