nothing new under the sun

King Solomon was right when he wrote "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Many years ago, when my first 4 were little, arguments among them were common. One of the most common was the "Get out of my house! I was here FIRST" tossed at a younger sibling when the older one was irritated. Didn't matter who you were--if you had someone younger here, those words were said. (Poor Victoria's never been able to use that argument. Until now, I guess.) Of course, no one has screamed that at a sibling for many years. They're all far more sophisticated than that now. :)

Imagine my surprise, then, to hear this screaming match this morning. Apparently Logan had done something to irritate Ryan mightily. I don't really know what happened--I was doing unimportant things like collecting laundry and fixing breakfast.

Ryan: "Get OUT of here! Get OUT of MY house! You don't belong here any more."
Logan: "No. I live here TOO and you can't make me!"
(insert sound of mom choking back laughter here)
Ryan: "Get OUT. I was here first and YOU CAN'T STAY ANY MORE"
Logan: "You can't make me. I'm OLDER and BIGGER and I get to stay!"
Ryan: "Yes, but I've been here longer. So just LEAVE."

At that point I stepped in, still trying not to laugh. This is NOT something they learned from their older siblings, and they don't watch enough TV to have seen it there. I guess it's true--there's nothing new under the sun. Especially when it comes to sibling arguments.

And now they're back to playing together quite contentedly....