Sibling wierdities

Wierdities is not a word, but it just sounds right when applied to my brother.
My friend called me up after having too many problems trying to fix her computer and the password she had wouldn't work. I told her to try:
Baji is a good girl
As soon as I realised what I said, I couldn't stop laughing. Everytime my brother stands over my shoulder when I'm entering a password on the screen, he always says, "c'mon baji, I know your password is baji-is-a-good-girl" because he thinks that all I think about is myself.

My brother is not easy to deal with. Especially when it comes to food. He only eats a few things- chicken (boneless!), potatoes, rice, milk and cornflakes with 5 tablespoonful of sugar, chocolate cakes, most Pakistani sweets, sausages, parathey, Tim Hortons donuts and minced meat in any form. As such, it makes my task of cooking a terrible ordeal, because either I cook the same thing over and over again and he'll complain until I throw him out the window, or I try to be creative and make the same thing taste different everytime I make it. I'm already thankful that I do not have consistency in cooking.

My sister on the other hand is worse. She only eats chicken (boneless), potatoes, minced meat in any form, chocolate croissants, chocolates and she can eat Rice Krispies 7 days a row, 3 times a day.

My first brother and I can eat virtually anything, except he savours much more than I do.

I'm contemplating sending my brother off to do some handy household courses such as electronics, plumbing, and carpentry. Mashallah, he's quite amazing @ housework, but I think if a man isn't handy enough @ home, the usefulness of his existence is almost doubtful.

One night, close to 3am, I was washing the dishes, and hadn't slept because we had planned to go for the Qiyam @ the Masjid. 2 sisters and a brother were sleeping over. And since I wanted to make sure everyone was up by 3:30, I busied mysef in the kitchen. My brother gets up, walks into the kitchen, shouting @ me: "Baji, did you not find a better time to wash the dishes and clanking pans and pots and waking me up?" I... got quite scared because I was trying so hard to be quiet! He saw my facial expressions change, and said "haha, gotcha! Ok, I'm going back to sleep". My friend just remarked: "How does he come up with jokes @ 3 in the morning??"

My sister is a true poetess! She's excellent at expressing herself, and often her poetry brings me to tears. I know she wants to study English, but I really want her to go into medicine. She endures a lot, without ever complaining, and my only advice to her is to have stronger faith in Allah, and to open up to people who are good to her. It's not good to keep your emotions bottled up. She emanates peace around her, and has always been an inspiration for me- Can I ever forget she started covering herself completely @ 11, when it didn't dawn on to me until 17? I started the hijab about 6 months after she did. May Allah make her pain and suffering easy for her. Hang in there girl! Lots smileys for you! :)

My brothers think they're older than me, just because they tower over me. That's fine, and I let them boss me around often. Wouldn't want to risk hurting the male ego! ;) I admire them for their sense of responsibility, and protectiveness towards me and my sister. Of course, I do get scared of them sometimes because they are much stronger than me!

My younger brother, having left home at a young age, and also being more emotionally attached to the family, often looks to me to play the role of a mother. Sometimes, things get quite awkward, amidst our busy lifestyles, and it's easy to forget the role-playing I have to do.

My brothers call my sister 'Hey Potter', because she's an avid Harry Potter fan. The threesome can drive my parents up the wall.

I love the fact that my sister and I can share our clothes, which just doubles the size of our wardrobes, and that my brothers simply love the clothes I buy them. It should never be the man's choice anyways.

My first brother can be very wise @ times. I firmly believe he carries more wisdom than me, except, he needs to have a firm control over his temper and desires (as we all do). Once, when I didn't stop crying for ages after realising how disrespectful I had been to my mother to the point of her having to say something to me, he was the only one out of the 3 of them who got me a glass of water, a tissue, wiped my tears and said, "Baji, let's go for a walk. What will you change of the past by crying?"
Sometimes, I don't even realise their true potential, or how much I mean to them. For sure, they love me more than I love them.

And the incident in the subway, when I was reading my Qur'an as usual and a man came upto him and started asking him why Islam was propagated to Africa, etc etc. My brothers words left me speechless. He talked about some of the realities of missionaries. I never knew he could talk like that. I never realised this little kid had grown beyond his shoes. And I quietly got up and gave my Qur'an to my brother- which he passed over to that man who accepted it.

I feel I've missed so much by not being with them for 4 years now.