Different

When people see my two boys, they often comment on how different they look from each other. It's true, they do. 

Those who know Bud and Big will also comment on how different their personalities are. That's true, too. So true. 


Big takes his obsessions very seriously-- basketball, drums, dinosaurs, big cats (with a little shark, alligator, and crocodile thrown in), and all things construction are his life's work. Bud loves art and music and tends to look at things from a slightly more whimsical angle. Although Big is actually the more laid back and easy to laugh of the two and Bud is more uptight.... Anyway, they're different.


The boys struggle every day in their attempts to play with one another. While they both have fantastic imaginations, they have pretty much completely opposite approaches to everything they do. Thank heavens Ginger is around to moderate the issues and help them find common ground.


A perfect example of how different the boys are occurred the other day as Big was commentating for himself as he played basketball:


Big (pretending to be someone else, of course): "..Paul Pierce grabs the rebound and takes the ball to the other end of the court.... he drives to the hoop and as he slams the ball through it goes..."


Bud (with complete glee in his voice): "...birdie, birdie, lemon squirty!"


Big (despairingly): "NooooooOoooo! A basketball does not do that!"


It made everyone laugh but Big. Clearly, there is no room for levity and imagination in the game of basketball. It's serious business. At least until later. Big can laugh about it now that we're not in the moment. Kind of like how I can laugh about how all of the kids have pooped on me. Not so funny at the time, but now I can ruefully smile and shake my head at the memories. Yup, probably exactly like that.