Someone has to be bossy

I think I'm bossy.  I try not to be...but in reality the buck stops with me...on so many levels, and usually by necessity. Examples: Laundry (washed, dried, folded and put away) right there...that's 4 bucks.   Clean toilets, clean floors, clean sheets, clean teeth, buck...buck...buck...buck...buck.  "Be respectful to your sister." "Don't take that tone with me." "No you cannot drive your friends today."  "Yes, we can talk about that issue later"  "Yes, you have to take out the garbage and clean your room before basketball."  Buck...buck...buck...buck..  Don't get me started on homeschooling.  Lotsa bucks.  I should be a millionaire.  So I said at the beginning of this that I feel bossy.  It's this 'thing' that I don't like.  The balancing act of being firm but not a dictator.  Who wants to live with Stalin?  And yet every now and then I need to use my mean voice to avoid catastrophic household meltdown.   (My mean voice is something my brother in law told me about) He lived with us for a time...and apparently is a witness to this vocal technique of mine.

I'm a firstborn.  I display many classic firstborn traits.  Independent. Little bit type A.  Little bit of a perfectionist.  Little bit wanting things my own way.  I say 'little bit' because I have mellowed out since my 'Mom Junior' days.  Mom Junior you ask?  Yes.  I have two brothers, 5 and 8 years younger than me and Mom Junior was the pet name they lovingly called me.  (Ok, so the lovingly part is probably part of my selective memory)  I'm pretty sure they called me other names when I was out of ear shot.  And I'm also pretty sure that lovingly didn't show up for those either.

But listen, you can't really blame me.  I mean, how would you react if your parents looked your two little brothers in the eyes and intently said "While we are gone tonight, your sister is in charge, so you need to listen to her."  I don't know about you, but just remembering this makes me giddy with the feeling of power...and a little evil laugh wants to escape my throat.  C'mon people don't judge!  You know that little bit of Stalin in everyone wants to come out and play.  Ok, Stalin is really too terrible of an idea, so think Simon Cowell instead. 

So the buck started stopping with me at a young age.  In some ways it's prepared me well for all the buck stopping I need to do on a daily basis.  Although I'm not sure my brothers would agree that waiting on me hand and foot was really necessary for my future well being.  They also might take issue with me ordering them around like little soldiers, doing my bidding just for the sake of doing my bidding.  (You may be wondering if we're on speaking terms, the brothers and me...)  Yes we are!  In fact we get along famously well!!  I think it's all 'bossy sister water under the bridge' now.  I'm never invited to their family gatherings and their children don't know Aunt Jen, but I'm pretty sure we're on good terms. 

So the whole Mom Junior issue aside...maybe I'm not that bossy. Maybe I just have a normal life with normal issues.  Normal kids, who need supervision, guidance,  and love.  A husband who also manages lots of his own bucks and does a fabulous job by the way.   Maybe I too, am  just a regular woman with a lot of bucks.  It's too bad more of them aren't the green paper kind. The Benjamins. That might be kind of fun to experience for a while.   I wouldn't even use my mean voice if they wanted to stop with me.