Why I love Gerard #1

Welcome to the first "Why I love Gerard" post, where I tell stories about my lovable yet troublesome 3 year-old little brother!

This post is called:

A Time-Out in the Middle of Mass 
My 11 year-old brother Joseph had an out-of-town hockey tournament.  My Dad (who takes hockey very seriously) offered to take him, and he decided to take Gerard with him to give Mom a break for the weekend.  Gerard had a blast.   He swam in the pool at the hotel, ate pizza with the team, and won over all the moms in the stands with his considerable charms.  He even took a nap on the lap of one of the moms during a game.  When we go to Joseph's local games now, everyone stops to talk with Gerard.  He's like the mayor.

Anyhow, back to the out-of-town tournament story.  After the Sunday morning game, they jumped in the truck and headed over to the local Catholic Church, where Mass was just underway.  They sat in the very last pew because they were late.  The gifts of wine and bread were on a table right behind the last pew, waiting for the time where they would be brought to the altar.  While Dad and Joesph were listening to the homily, Gerard leaned over the back of the pew and picked up the big host - the one that the priest usually breaks during the Eucharistic Prayers.  Gerard beat him to it.

He wasn't trying to be bad.  He was just trying to be a priest.  He wanted to know what it felt like to snap the host in two, and I think he was quite satisfied with the whole experience right up until the point where the sound of the 'snap' made Joseph turn his head.  Joseph looked at Gerard, looked at the host, and then tugged on Dad's sleeve.  "Dad," he whispered "I think we have a problem." 

And that's how Gerard ended up in a time-out in the middle of Mass.

In case you were wondering, when they did bring the gifts up to the altar, the priest just used one of the smaller hosts to say the Eucharistic Prayers.  He didn't miss a beat.  Maybe Gerard wasn't the first kid in the last row to end up in a time-out in the middle of Mass.

 I love Gerard!

If you have something to say about this post or have any ideas of what I can blog about next please tell me! God Bless,

              Angele

Me and my little bother of a brother

 
I'm working on getting along with my little brother.
We used to get along so well when we were little. We played together every day and had so much fun!
But now we're almost always fighting.
My little brother Joseph is about 11 and loves to get under my skin.  And I let him.
Here's how that happens:

First he'll disobey me or do something that upsets me - just to upset me, I swear. Sometimes it's me just being in a bad mood. Or something is bothering me and I'm grumpy because of it.  
But whatever starts it, when I get mad he acts like I'm the grumpy witch and laughs at me.
So then I try to ignore him, hoping he will just go away.  He never does.
Instead, we have this discussion:
Little Brother: “Oh, she's mad now!"
Big Sister: "Just leave me alone!"
Little Brother :"Oh she's mad! She’s such a grumpy old witch!"
Big Sister: "MOM, Joseph's bothering me"
Little Brother: "Oh yah, now it's my fault"
Big Sister: "Don't lie!  You know you were trying to upset me!"
Mom: “Joseph be nice to your sister.  Angele don't get upset so easily." 

Then I'll think:
"He started it!" "It's his fault!" " I wasn't mad until he made me mad!"
Then I feel sad.  And mad.

Why does Joseph like bothering me so much?  Where's the love?
I think it's a puberty thing.  Him, not me. (I can tell Joseph is going through puberty because he's growing alot, he's getting a mustache, and he has a lot of extra energy). Bothering me must be his way of using his extra energy.
Or maybe he bothers me for entertainment, because I get so upset;

"I don't know about girls.
But for boys, they find some pleasure in upsetting their siblings"  - Fr. Dave.

Still, my mom's right too. I get upset really easily. (In my defense: I don't get upset when it's anybody else, only Joseph.)
Anyway, I shouldn't let him bother me. I can't control what he does, but I can control my reaction.  So, no matter how much he acts like a little brat with a moustache and tries to get me upset, I will remain calm and poised.  Calm.  And poised.  At least most of the time.

I love my little brother and I don't like being mad at him. Me and him have been buddies since we were little.  Sometimes he is a great guy.  I want to like having him around and I want him to like having me around.   Heaven help us, I'll try.                        

If you have something to say about this post or have any ideas of what I can blog about next, please tell me!
God Bless,
             Angele