My daughter Allie was three years old when her sister Jenny was born. Although she wore her “I am a big sister” button proudly at pre-school the next day, it took Allie a little while to get used to sharing her world with this new person.
By the time Allie was six and Jenny was three, the two were inseparable. Jenny matured fast, as second children usually do, and she was easily able to keep up with Allie. Together, they would spend hours singing songs, doing art projects and playing polly pockets.
When Allie was nine and Jenny was six, they became obsessed with the television show, “The Worst Witch.” The show was about two little witches, Mildred (the star of the show) and her best friend Maud. Allie and Jenny would watch everyday and then they would get all dressed up, Allie as Mildred and Jenny as Maud. They would make up their own adventures in our living room and play for hours.
Then one day the Mildred and Maud show was cancelled. My two adorable little witches had slowly turned into two obnoxious little “b*&%$”s. Not to me or to other people that knew them, but to each other.
Looking back, I can see why it happened. When Jenny was little she blissfully followed Allie’s lead in everything they did. She thought that Allie was the smartest, most creative, wonderful person in the whole world. And Allie loved being the smartest, most creative, wonderful person in the whole wide world – who wouldn’t want to be adored?
But as Jenny got older, she didn’t want to always follow Allie’s lead. She wanted them to be co-stars and have her ideas heard. Allie was used being the star of their relationship and she enjoyed having Jenny as her sidekick. So they stilled played together but there were more arguments.
By the time Jenny was in middle school, she was no longer content to get a co-starring role – she set her sights on having her own show; a spin off entitled, “Jenny is the smartest, most creative, wonderful person in the whole wide world”. She happily offered a role to Allie as her sidekick and, of course, that did not appeal to Allie. They both got busy with their own lives, spent less time together yet still found a lot of time to argue.
When I look at the pictures of the two of them when they were little and so tightly connected, I miss it. But they are both teenagers now, trying to figure out who they are. As long as they are respectful of each other, I need to accept that for now the once inseparable witches are leading more separate but happy lives.
I do hold out hope that as they get older and more mature they will find their way back to each other. In fact, they have both become obsessed with a new TV show, “Make it or Break It” and have been making a point of watching it together.
Perhaps Mildred and Maud will have some more great adventures in the future.
