Dealing with the Rascal Growing Up

Just recently, I found out that my youngest brother, the little Rascal, the Monster - whatever term of endearment you would use for the spoiltbrat - is in a relationship. A very caps-lockish Wall Post by my younger sister, Jade ('BOY GOT GIRLFREN. QUITE PRETTY') and 22 equally caps-lockish back and forth replies later, I proceeded to stalk him to find out more about this girl. I wanted to see who she was and was very curious as to what she was thinking, getting herself into this mess. Indeed, she is quite good looking and that shocked me just a little bit more.

Very excitedly, Jade and I launched into an hour-long conversation on Roy (We call him Boy at home. Not sure why, but maybe because it has a ring to it - Roy the Boy) and this girlfriend of his. When did they start dating? For how long? Maybe she's the dominant one in the relationship? etc, etc.

I'm sure some of you have that problem - dealing with the fact that your youngest sibling, particularly if s/he is a lot younger than you, growing up. I find it weird that I still remember how Jade and I would bully our younger brother, him being the only boy and all. We would make him the Big Bad Wolf while we played the three, well, two little pigs and hid safe inside our little fortress assembled with whatever furniture that we could move at the time. He was always the bad guy to all our games. Whether we were playing penguins in our old bedroom (with our white comforter blanketing pillows and bolsters and our bed as snow!) or lions on all fours, we try to single him out because it just wasn't cool to play with your younger brother! Or something like that anyway.

I even remember back when he was a baby. One memory that is so adorable and funny was when Jade and I sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to him in a very sad, low voice and he, as a baby, started crying. Or when we had that Peach Tea drink that we had to share among ourselves and to make it fair, we placed our miniature sofa some ten steps away and the rule was that we could only drink in the ten steps that it took us to reach the sofa (But of course being six years younger, his then tiny feet could only step so far). So funny, looking back now.

Sometimes I forget that he is sixteen already. Why, that's one year older than the age that I started dating! It's weird when you try to remember what you were like when you were sixteen (or fifteen). Having your first boyfriend, or girlfriend in this case. I would like to think that he's not as mature as I was when I was sixteen. But who am I kidding? As the years go by, it becomes quite obvious that he is going to grow up. Like myself, Boy will graduate high school, go to university and graduate from that too. Like me.

Although, I guess that he will always be the Brat to me. Whether he's six, sixteen or sixty. And as he goes through every phase that I go through, it will still shock me equally as much as this news. Jade and I will always find it funny, possibly even as he goes through his first heartbreak, his first job, and everything else.