Now we all know that having a little sister has its good moments and not so good moments.  Just ask Max.  Usually on the first day I arrive in Little Rock, both kids NEED my attention and it is usually a losing battle.  I do my best to do something with both separately and together.  But there are times in a young man’s little life that it is just NOT a good thing to have a little sister.

Max is a very smart young man, but sometimes he let’s his emotions get the better of him.  After a few hours yesterday of listening to him unravel when his sister would do something to ignite his emotions, I thought it’s time for Max and Mimi to have a chat.  Max went in and got out the Legos last night and we were building things.  Well guess who else wanted to build things and guess who didn’t want her to build things.  It’s a never ending cycle.  Just about the time we would have our masterpiece close to completion, in comes Molly.  Grabbing the Legos and not sharing [imagine that].  Max was not having it and he was gearing up for a meltdown.  Never fear, Mimi to the rescue.

Mimi:  Max, you need to learn how to handle your sister.  You are the BIG brother aren’t you?
Max:  Right, I AM the BIG brother.
Mimi:  Then you need to use some “strategory”  [A George Bush word, forgive me].
Max:  What’s that Mimi?
Mimi:  The next time Molly grabs your blocks very gently say to her, “that’s ok Molly, you can have it, I don’t need it.”
Max:  That’s not going to work Mimi.
Mimi:  Try it, what do you have to lose?

Within just a few minutes Molly is back yanking up the blocks and wreaking havoc again.  Max and I made eye contact and I said, try it.   

Max:  That’s ok Molly, you can have it, I didn’t want it anyway.

What happened next?  She put it down immediately and moved on to something else.  Max looked at me like he had just won the lottery.  See, it works.  You have to take charge of the situations and outsmart her.  You are the big brother, right?

Right Mimi……