Sibling fight.... glad it didn't include me

 

People often ask me if I am sad that I didn’t have any siblings. I don’t know anything different, so I am content with my life. Recently, when I heard of a dispute amongst siblings, I was glad I wasn’t involved.

Disclaimer: I am changing names, to protect others’ privacy.

 

Tim and Bonnie have two sons, Jim and Jack. Both of their children are married and with children of their own. Jim lives about five and an half hours from Tim and Bonnie. Recently, Jim and his wife had another baby. So, they planned to travel to their parents’ home, which in the same state as of most of Jim relatives, so everyone could see their latest addition.  

Tim and Bonnie wanted to make sure that both sides of their family could see the new baby, so they made separate plans with both. Bonnie’s sister offered to hold the event at her home and have food catered.  This was on a Saturday. The next day Bonnie had invited all of Tim’s family (19 people) over to their home for dinner, which everyone had agreed to.

Tim, Bonnie, Bonnie’s mom, Jim, Jack, along with their wives and kids, headed to Bonnie’s sister for an afternoon meal. Bonnie’s sister was set on the fact that everyone eats together. So, Bonnie and Tim planned their departure time around, to arrive in time for the start of the meal. They had to drive about two hours to Bonnie’s sister. As they were headed down the interstate, Tim’s sister phoned and said that they heard that they were headed to Bonnie’s sister and they were all gathered at her son’s house, so they should stop by, so they could see the new baby. Tim and Bonnie turned this down stating that they did not have time because it would ruin her sister’s meal.

This is when trouble began. After hanging up the phone, everyone who was gathered at the sister’s son’s house, began complaining that Tim and Bonnie were selfish for not stopping by. They also criticized Bonnie’s sister for not inviting them to her house for dinner. Tim and Bonnie have been married for close to 40 years, but the two sides do not hang out together.

 Tim and Bonnie might have stopped by had they been invited prior to being in route to another event.

The following day, Sunday, only one member of Tim’s family showed up to the planned event. When she told Bonnie what had happened after they refused to stop by and they were really mad at her, Bonnie told her, “They have been mad before.”

So, what were the effects of not showing up?  Well, it caused hurt feelings for Jim and his family that travelled so everyone could see their children. It ruined Bonnie’s meal that she had prepared for all of them. Oh, and Tim’s family missed out on learning that Jack and his wife are expecting a baby in the new year.

From my perspective this seems like a pretty juvenile fight. If everyone had acted like adults and gone to Sunday's event, then it would have prevented a lot of hurt feelings.