I spend a good chunk of the weekend helping my pregnant sister and her family move. Due to a snafu with her new, temporary apartment complex, the gas in her place didn’t get turned on. Because it has been really cold at night, my niece and sister have been hanging out and sleeping at our house. (My sister’s husband works nights, so he hasn’t really been around).
In a lot of ways, my sister and I are complete opposites even though we share a lot of similarities. For example, we both inherited some minor sensory issues from my dad and his side of the family. I can not STAND the sound of teeth or metal scratching on other metal. Hearing that sound (and even thinking about it) It physically hurts me. My sister, on the other hand, has an aversion to the r touching or biting wood. Boy, let me tell you, cooking together was a huge disaster. Whenever I would stir something with a wooden spoon (the only kind I cook with because I want to avoid metal spoons scraping sounds), she would have to leave the kitchen.
Overall, though, the time I have been spending with my sister this week has been good. There has been less tension than we normally have between us. Less disagreement and less obvious annoyance at our different opinions/points of view. Maybe this is because I have been schlepping, packing, unpacking and hosting to help her out.
The only hitch to all this togetherness (pleasant as it has been) is that I am an introvert. I usually use my evenings to recharge with some quiet alone time. Spending 3 or 4 evenings with anyone just wipes me out. Right now, I could use a day spent completely alone to recover.
You are being a great sister! I know what you mean about needing alone time to recoup. Hope all ends well. Thinking of you and wishing you the best
What a lovely sister! It’s hard to spend so much time with a pregnant person who is out of her element. And the teeth noises thing? I totally get that. My kids go straight for the teeth clacking when they want to push my buttons.
Sounds like a good experience overall. I was startled by your title, because my sister found me on FB yesterday. I totally panicked, considered deleting everything but then remembered that changes come up in the newsfeed. Finally, I just accepted the friend request, and it was really nice to connect with her there. Both of us having toddlers and living so far apart, it’s hard to do phone conversations and we don’t see each other.
Though I’m still thinking the sky will fall in when she clicks on my Causes… ~lmc
you should be great fun at our get together tonight, then!
Glad you’re spending quality time with your sister.
I get you. There was a 4 year gap between me and my younger sister, so I was a loner. Plus I was a miserable, sad, super-shy child until my early 20s (now you can’t shut me up).
And now it’s been just me and my hubby for 13 years.
When my family is over, I need to go hide in my bedroom for a while. I desperately want to add a guest suite + family room (and redo the absolutely disgusting kitchen), so that we all have a little more space. I go nuts with so many people in the house, also because I’m very sensitive to certain noise levels. The curse of perfect pitch. At least my immediate family gets it and will ask me if I’m ok or if they should clear out for a while. My in-laws…not so much
.
It can be fun to have family over to stay for a visit–very nice of you to help your sister out. But I can see how some quiet time alone sounds pretty good to you now.
My husband has that same aversion to wooden spoons.
I have the wooden spoon thing, too. And to eat a popsicle? Can’t even stand to think about it.
I get you about the alone time. As nice as it has been to be sisterly. Hope the gas gets turned on soon.
I have three sisters. I connect with them all in very different ways/levels and they all drive me nuts in different ways, too. Ah, sisters. But seriously, my mom has always warned us that “at the end of the day,” all we (the sisters) have is each other. That constant comment throughout my life remains in the back of my head and I suppose, in some small way, it’s true.
Happy Holidays to you and your fam!