And so it begins

This afternoon while I was putting away laundry in the bedroom I heard an all-too-familiar pattern of noises coming from the other room.

1. Kostyn and Evan laughing and shrieking
2. Tiny footsteps bounding around the house while hand-held musical instruments are played
3. A sudden stop to the footsteps
4. Evan’s pained cries
5. Three quick footsteps heading in the opposite direction of the downed toddler

Like the three dozen other times this happens daily, I bolted into the room to assess the damage and dispense consequences. Usually a wordless Evan just looks at me, his face pink and his expression helpless, while Kostyn tries to be casual, as if everybody’s fine. This leaves me to question Kostyn about what happened, trying not to jump to conclusions JUST IN CASE the whole thing was an accident or Evan provoked his brother, neither of which is ever the case.

But today something different happened. Today marked a new chapter in their relationship as siblings, a new dimension to their communication. Today when I ran into the room and said, “What happened?!” while looking from one to the other, Evan looked at me, set his jaw and pointed, adamantly, at his brother.

“HE did it, Mommy,” his tiny index finger yelled. I saw Kostyn’s eyes widen nearly imperceptively, and I couldn’t help but smile, and then laugh, at the little tattletale-as-self-defense brother Kostyn had unwittingly created.

Just like that, alongside Give and Take, Follow and Lead, Teach and Learn, and Tickle and Laugh, they added two new roles to their repertoire as siblings:

Assault and Accuse.