sisters...

I have for some time been quite aware of the interaction between sisters who are close in age: say, two to three years apart.  This is almost certainly due to the fact that I am the youngest in my family by six years, and have two older sisters just slightly over three years apart.
At this time I have four daughters at home, whose ages make possible three such pairings as described above (bear with me here; I was never good at math).  D2 is three years older than D3, who is three years older than D4, who is two years older than D5.  If you are talented at psychology, YOU figure out who should room with whom, and let me know.


So, we have these kinds of exchanges:

Melly:  Mrs. Jones was in school today.  I didn't realize it at first; she was talking to the principal; then all of a sudden there she was, standing behind me while I was at my locker, and she said, 'Hello, gorgeous!'  Then she turned and said to the principal, 'This is one of the best actresses at her old school.'  And he said, 'Oh, we'll be looking forward to seeing her act.'
Me:  Oh?  That was nice.
Melly:  Yeah, but I kinda think she must have me confused with Jane-Clare.  I haven't had any big roles, you know?
Me:  Well, not necessarily.  You have done a very good job with small roles, after all.
Jane-Clare:  Um... Melly?
Melly:  Yes?
Jane-Clare:  She started out by saying, 'Hello, gorgeous'?
Melly:  Yeah.
Jane-Clare: (chuckling softly)  Well, OBVIOUSLY she had you confused with me.

Or:

Melly:  In health class today Coach was talking about self-esteem... he said that comparing people to other people is bad.
Me:  Comparisons are odious.
Melly:  No, he didn't say THAT.
Me:  No, Christopher Marlowe did.  Never mind.  Go on.
Melly:  OK.  So he was talking about some girl whose parents always said, 'You're not as cute as your older sister', or something like that.  And so then he said to me, 'Imelda, for instance, how would you feel if people were always saying, "You know, Imelda, you're not as cute as Jane-Clare"?'
Me:  Ahh...
Melly:  And I said, 'Oh, Coach, nobody would ever say that.  EVERYBODY knows I am MUCH cuter than Jane-Clare.'

Now, the good news here (it seems to me) is that neither sister is being eclipsed by the other.  Often one is overshadowed.  But not my girls.  Both of them are in there swinging.. and laughing about it.