21 October 2007

Relationship Building Activities

Growing up, my favourite past times evolved and developed, but they have largely remained the same.

I've always loved reading and writing, and I still do. My mum bought me a hard-cover and beautifully illustrated version of Aesop's fables when I was in Pri 1 and my aunties told her it was too chim for me, but I read it from cover to cover while she was away on holiday. Doodling and drawing have been in my blood since young, as can be told from the grafitti on walls and the scrawls in my textbooks from Pri school til college days, which landed me in trouble with some teachers. Oh, and an all time favourite: bullying and terrorizing my brother...

Oops, did I actually say that out loud?

My brother is almost 6foot tall and works out regularly, plus he's got my family's natural good looks (ahemz), so he is actually tall, dark and hemsem. But as a kid, he was smaller sized than me, plus I was rather strong for a girl my age way back then. As such, I'd use this physical advantage shamelessly to get my way and literally twisting his arm to get my way was not beneath me then. It's still not beneath me NOW, but seeing how big he is, I can't push him around anymore ; PP

He reckons that his interest in getting fit started with me pushing him around. Well now, that's food for thought :P Anyways, karma and retribution is biting me in my ample ass, for my brother frequently flaunts his flab-free-ness in my face and taunts me by jiggling my arms, poking my chubby tummy and scoffing at my thunder thighs.

Sample conversation:
Bro: Hey you, sis! What's this I see? *pinches my arm* Is that *in an incredibly mocking tone* faaaaats??
Me: OW! Be careful! I'm a delicate flower!

Bro: *Widened eyes and a visible sneer on his lips* Oh My Gosh! Look at that! It's your TUMMY?! *pokes*
Me: Hey! What's your problem huh, muscle-man??! You think you so good, huh??

Bro: *lying on the floor after doing about 25 diamond push-ups.. yes he's quite hardcore... and then he looks up at me standing near him* Sis! Your thighs! UGH! *closes his eyes and looks away dramatically*

So yes, I can't push him around anymore and he's milking it for all it's worth. I try punching him every now and then, but it doesn't quite have the same punch as it used to (+10points for pun here)--he swats me away like he would a gnat.

But there is something I can still do, and I do with great relish: I wake him up in the mornings. *cue thunder, lightning, evil laughter: muahahahahahahaaaa*

See, my poor brother is incapable of waking up before lunch time under normal circumstances (read: weekends. Weekdays are an anomaly in my world.), and waking up is a 30min long process for him. First, he drifts in and out of consciousness. Then, his eyes opens for a millisecond. Then maybe he flips over once. Then once more, before one eye twitches again. You get the idea.

Sometimes when I want to have a breakfast companion, my only choice is to get the poor boy out of bed so that he can have some morning nutrition with his most favourite sibling in the world--me. Waking my brother up is an elaborate 10 step process, so let me just share some of my favourite techniques:

- Open the door, run into the room yelling "WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUPPPPP!! GETUPGETUPGETUUUUUP!"
- Pull off blankets, pull open shades / curtains, switch on lights in the room if necessary.
- If he resists, pull away pillow and bolster. (This technique no longer works as he's stronger than me now... probably another reason why he hits the gym)
- Poke him incessantly, especially if he has sore muscles from exercising and you know about it. USE THAT KNOWLEDGE!
- Tickle his feet. Especially effective if you have removed the blanket and his feet has nowhere to hide.
- Set his alarm for snooze in 1 minute's time and hide it somewhere inaccessible.

Unfortunately, he's wisened up and locks the door now, so I'm reduced to knocking the door in an elaborate rythm and pattern as irritating as possible so that it torments him while he tries to sleep.

Anyway, the whole point of this post is that my brother's birthday just passed and I'd like to dedicate this post to him, saying that what doesn't kill him certainly makes him stronger and wiser, and he only needs to look at our relationship to confirm it ; )

Blessed belated birthday, bro!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My sister admits that her ego is larger than a guy's! And that she has been beating up her poor bf into a pulp! Matthew, take heed, take steroids!

Anonymous said...

she has an ego as big as her head! must watch out for her head-"butt"... hahaha

Quirkz said...

cyk: hello there brudder ; P

anon: i'll head-butt u the next time we meet!!