I thought sibling rivalry was the stuff of sitcoms. You know, Robert and Ray Barone, Tommy and Dick Smothers, "Mom likes you best:". Maybe the reason is that I grew up with brothers and there wasn't really any need to feel any sense of competition with them. They did their thing and were all equally praised for their accomplishments. And I did my thing and was praised accordingly. Everyone got equal amounts of mom and dad time.  No, we weren't Wally and the Beaver or even the Waltons (though we did like to annoy mom and dad by endlessly yelling "Goodnight" from our respective rooms!)

But then came these two. Tallulah and Gertrude for the sake of anonymity. They will go to war over anything. Whose turn is it to walk the dog, who last cleared the table. And always, always the plaintive wail "MOOOomm that's so not fair!"

So I looked it up. Evidently this is normal. Great. There are even a variety of reasons why this is normal. But two seem to be most likely. One is the difference in tempers. Tallulah is a drama queen. That's why I call her Tallulah. After Tallulah Bankhead, the actress. And Gertrude is more laid back but still an actress. So they compliment each other. ..not. They are like gasoline and a match.

The other reason is that teens are trying to assert their independence and may resent having  to do chores. Kind of a "What are you rebelling against?" "What do ya got?" thing. And if chores are all you have to rebel against, it's game on. Tallulah walked the dog two times today...it must be Gertie's turn. Eggscept... Gertrude walked the dog three times yesterday and so she must be exempt today.

There is hope though. The experts suggest a schedule and letting them solve their own disputes. And making time for each of them to have their own "special time". So we do all of those things and more. And just yesterday I caught Tallulah talking nicely to her sister...yes I did! So they may make it to adulthood.

Like I said, sibling rivalry is a passing phase, like all phases of growing up. But it occurs to me that my sister, who was born when I was 19 lives right across the street from mom. That means she gets way more attention than I do. That's so not fair!