brotherly harmony

For years, Secondo and Terzo have butted heads on a monotonous and noisy basis. They both get along well with Primo, but the two of them together, alone, are oil and water. Most days we have to forbid them from being in the same room with each other to keep the peace. Perhaps it is a form of rivalry for Primo's attention, but whatever the cause, it is extremely annoying.

Yesterday however, I glanced out the back door to check on Secondo's progress with planting the garden, and saw this unlikely sight.

The two of them, working together, talking and laughing and getting along for an unprecedented length of time. I found out later that they had been playing the game "Would You Rather" while they cleared and planted the garden. Questions consisted of such classics as "would you rather lick cow poop once or drink soy milk for the rest of your life?" (I thought the obvious answer was (b) until I found out that soy milk would be your exclusive drink; I had to agree that (a) would be my choice if I was forced to give up coffee.)

Then tonight, my husband went outside with Terzo to work on his pitching, with the septic mound serving double duty as a pitching mound. Lo and behold, when I checked on them, Secondo had donned his work boots and grabbed a bat to provide a strike zone. He was never a baseball player, so this was doubly generous of him.

And still later, down in the basement playing multiple rounds of ping-pong* together. Will wonders never cease? Or is it simply the case of any port in a storm, as Primo is around less and less these days?

The obvious title for this post was "brotherly love" but that is taking it too far just yet. I will settle for not screaming at each other on a regular basis, praise them to the heavens every time I catch them at it, and pray that it sticks.

* This ping-pong table was inherited from our previous house, a fixture in the basement when we bought the house in 1999. We estimate it was over 40 years old at that point. It was in terrible shape, covered in paint splatters and dirt, but my husband restored it for... nothing. The boys were too little to play. We couldn't bear to leave it behind when we moved in 2002, so we brought it here and installed it in another basement. Until last week, it was the collecting point for all sorts of detritus and debris. Secondo suddenly decided that he needed to learn how to play for a high school lunchtime diversion, and coerced Terzo into helping him clear it off. They haven't stopped playing since. It only took 15 years, but the restoration is finally appreciated and the cost of moving it finally paid off.