Brotherly LoveHate

Although my boys really think that they get along worse than any other pair of brothers on the planet, they definitely don’t fight as much as other brothers do. (We’re very lucky!) Now and then they get under each other’s skin enough to attempt to strangle each other, but most scuffles are not of the physical nature and instead involve insults or one-upping.

Sometimes it’s funny, though. Remember the time when they used Photoshop to get on each other’s nerves? Refresh your memory here.

We had another memorable “argument” around here this past week. The older one has been steadfast in his refusal to accept his younger brother’s friend request on Facebook*; in fact, he’s been downright jerk-ish about it. We’ve been, at the dinner table, trying to convince him to not make such a big deal out of it: just accept his brother’s friend request and be done with it. For the younger boy, I honestly don’t think it’s a matter of “getting in” so he can torment his brother in a public forum; I think it’s the principle. But the older one just won’t do it*.

The younger one keeps saying, “When you’re away at college, you’ll friend me, ’cause you’ll miss me.”

“Nope,” is the reply. And the friend request just sits there on his Facebook home page, sadly ignored.

One day when I was in Tennessee with Kate and family and called home to check in, Jim told me about something hilarious that happened that afternoon. The older boy had been on the computer for a while and then left the area to go and do something else. It was the younger boy’s lucky day, because his brother had not logged out of Facebook when he walked away; when the younger boy went to access HIS Facebook account, he had his brother’s homepage staring him in the face. Not one to pass up a golden opportunity, he accepted his own friend request on behalf of his brother and then removed the news feed line that told everyone that this event had actually occurred.

Apparently it wasn’t too long before the invasion was discovered, and though Jim and the younger boy were laughing it up, the older boy was hrumphing and scowling as he is prone to do sometimes, and he immediately “de-friended” his brother. (Still funny!)

A couple of days ago, as luck would have it, the younger boy forgot to log HIMSELF out of Facebook. Well, around here–between the two boys–turnabout is fair play, so the older boy thought quickly about how to use this to his advantage. He ended up typing in an update on his brother’s status:

dfbstatus1
HILARIOUS, right? (I thought so!)

Well, the younger one, probably sensitive to the signing out/not signing out issue, remembered a mere ten minutes later that he left his Facebook account open. Without missing a beat, he changed his status, probably making him seem quite schizophrenic to his Facebook friends.

jfbstatus1
I think they’ve both learned their lesson about logging out of Facebook, no?

*If you’re a long-time reader, you’ll remember that once upon a time, I was completely against allowing our kids to open a Facebook account. Well, parenting is about flexibility in the long run as well as doing what’s right at the time. (We also swore, when the older one was a baby, that our kids would NEVER trick or treat. Three years later? We were out there with the masses, collecting way more Mary Jane chewies and Jolly Ranchers than one or two kids EVER need.) We monitor their Facebook pages on a *very* regular basis and have had many discussions with them about what to post in their status and what kind of pictures they should and shouldn’t share online. In case you were wondering.
*And we won’t make him accept it, because after all, it’s up to him. But seriously! Sheesh!

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©2010 Suburban Scrawl

7 Comments

  • WeaselMomma

    That is funny. I hope it keeps up for a while.

    What's up with you and your former Trick or Treat hatin' self?

  • Sue

    I can see this being a problem in my house when B gets her own FB page. Currently it is a battle between the cousins and parents and grandparents. Amusing to say the least.

    I didn't know that you were against going up to strangers and asking for candy. LOL

  • Mags

    LOL-never a dull moment, huh? 🙂 My cousin forgot to log out of his account while at school and he ended up with some really rank status updates. At least the older boy was nice enough not to do that!!

  • Heather

    This is hilarious, but mainly because I HATE FB now because all of my damn family is on there, and EVERY DAY i get a new friend request from one of them.. And then I go back & forth.. "Should I?" "Shouldn't I?"

    Sheesh.

    But this is totally something my brother and I would do!

  • NYC Girl

    Hysterical!

    I know a lady from work who was 'de-friended' on Facebook by her daughter after an arguement! OUCHIE!

    As long as you are still in the loop its all cool.

    Ah siblings…but P.S. Older one will miss him when he goes away to college…you'll see 🙂