Summertime and The List

Summertime always reminds me of Amy and The List

My older sister Amy got the awesome task of watching my sister Maci and  me

during  the summer while our parents worked.  I'm sure Amy envisioned

other plans during her senior year  summer other than

watching her 10 year old and 5 year old sisters.

We were in the house all  afternoon and bored. This was in the late 80s before ANY technology, so we enjoyed ourselves by getting into things around the house, playing, and getting on Amy's  nerves.

Amy is the most patient, kindest person you will ever meet.  Although we loved and respected her, we still pushed her buttons.   When we would do something bad, she wouldn't yell, scream or beat us, she

wrote it down on The List.

The List was just the back of an old bill or envelope that Amy used to write down all  of our bad behaviors and then hang on the fridge for our parents to see that evening.  We didn't pay much attention to The List, even as the list and the day grew longer.

 

Around 4:00 we would start asking Amy if she would take The List down. Nope, She wasn't taking it down and was going to hand it Mom and Dad as they walked through the door.  Is she for real!?!?   By 4:30 I was

nervously twiddling my thumbs, rereading The List trying to remember why I did half the stuff on that list.  At  4:45 I was begging Amy to take it down, offering her my first born child or a month worth of kitchen

duty. By  4:55 Maci and I are on our knees telling Amy how great she is and how we would never act up again.

At 5:00 the garage door opens and we all three line up at the door like the  Von Trapps.   My

parents walk in and ask how our day was while Maci and I smile nervously, look towards the fridge, and look at Amy.

 " Everyone was good." said Amy.  Everyone?  Even me? Score!

5:02 Amy walks over to the fridge  and removes The List from the fridge.

So that's how our summer went. Every day was a different list. Sometimes the lists were removed at 4:30, sometimes at 5:15, but they were always removed before my parents went into the kitchen to start

dinner.

It takes a special kind of person to put up with two bratty sisters, and a super special person to always have those bratty sisters' backs.

 

Now, 20+ years later, when I  am getting too uptight about something Ithink about The List.  If I wrote my issue on a list and let it sit, would it matter 7 hours later?  Probably not.

Thanks Amy for not telling on me that summer.

Love,

Bratty Sister Shells

Do you love it? At times Amy didn't!