Growing up I was always the rule-follower (although my parents may not remember it that way) and Eric was, well, more creative. I would ask if I could do something and Eric would just do it. And get away with it. He had that cute, funny thing going on; the unruly curly hair, the tortoiseshell frame glasses. I can remember sitting at the kitchen table burning with indignation because my parents were laughing at little Eric who had spaghetti sauce all over his white t-shirt. I just knew they would have killed me for the same infraction.
That doesn’t mean Eric always got away with things, just that he had a better chance than I did. A lot of the things Eric did (and got punished for) are still frequently told stories in our family. I think he was a lot more inventive in his misbehavior than most children.
Like the time he decided to saw off the corner of the wall in our unfinished 3rd floor and we pretended it was snowing. We both got punished for that.
There was the time when he was still young enough to take a nap and my mother, who thought he was sleeping, came upstairs to find all of the new toilet paper unrolled to make roads for his cars. Upon seeing her face he famously said, “Don’t worry Mommy, I fix it” and proceeded to smooth out all the wrinkles and bumps.
He once knocked out all the knotholes in a friend’s deck with a hammer. I’m still not sure what his rationale for that was.
The fire department got involved when he and a friend tried to make a volcano in that friend’s garage. With gasoline.
I’m sure my mother could come up with a lot more examples.
Although both of us got our fair share of punishments, Eric did get to weasel out of some due to that cute face.
Like the time we had a snow day and Eric didn’t want to walk to the local coffee shop for hot chocolate with me and my mother. (The one time he turned it down!) We left him home with instructions to call if he needed us. On our way back as we approached the house the smell of something burning got stronger and stronger. When we got to the door Eric greeted us with popcorn, a proud smile and a burnt pot. I’m not sure he ever did get punished for that one.
I cannot get over how much your brother sounds like my brother Josh. Josh would somewhat absent minded, by choice that is, and would pull the same sort of thing in the kitchen, and yet be so happy with himself! One year he convinced my mom "She" needed to make a vinegar pie for Thanksgiving...when really HE wanted one (he was good at that, making a "suggestion" that you should do something but really only because HE wanted you to do it for him) - and lets just say the house smelled AWFUL the remainder of the week. Hah!
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