I remember one fight I got into with my brother, when I was 12 or so, and he was 8. We had both had a long day at school, and one of us had said something to the other that rubbed just a little too much. I was throwing jibes and mocking, and because he was so much younger and couldn't compete verbally, he was pushing and shoving.
"Why don't you stop?!" -shove-
"Oh, yeah, ouch, that hurt so much!"
"Rrrrr!" -shove-
"Ouch, you're hurting me so much!"
Dad entered the room and separated us. He dismissed my brother with a warning and took me, the older brother, aside. He asked me:
"Do you remember telling me about that older boy who would provoke you, then make fun of you when you tried to make him stop? That's what you were doing to your brother just now."
I didn't show much of a reaction when he said that, but it shook me. I had done the exact same thing that other boy had done. I don't remember apologizing to my little brother, but I do remember deciding right then that I would never do anything that I wouldn't want others to do to me again. I mess up a lot, but this experience has helped me to keep my drive to someday reach that goal.
Thanks for the lesson, Dad.
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