I sometimes wonder if my boys have the same father. They are like chalk and cheese. I am pretty sure they share the same genes though. But unless there was a mix up at the hospital, they are true brothers. And the both share traits from there parents that are undeniable.
Allow me to explain.
Harry has a "whatever"streak that stems from my attitude to most things. His weekend footwear of choice is one croc and one thong, simply because he cannot find either matching pair. He has a propensity to over indulge in the culinary stakes, a trait directly stemming from Mr Woog and myself. He always looks a bit scrappy. He is addicted to iphones and ipads like me. He is obsessed with Dr Chris Brown, like me. He is the class clown and will do anything for a laugh..... like me. He is prone to sudden outbursts and mood swings. Like me.
He lost his drink bottle on the first day of school so now he is resigned to the fact that he is a bubbler boy for a while. But he does not care. Sometimes he wears undies to school. Sometimes he does not. Yesterday he bought home some other kids lunch box.
And on Wednesday, I did the kiss and drop school run and Harry had left his bag at home. I am all like "Harry you need to be more responsible" and gave him a lecture. I later drove back up to the school to drop it in, only to discover once I had parked that I too had left the bloody bag at home.
Jack gets up at 6.30am and gets dressed from head to toe in the correct school uniform, only adding variation when he wishes to wear a headband. When I ask them to get in the car each morning, he is sitting upright with belt fastened before I have finished the sentence while Harry starts looking for his school shoes. He loves rules and routines and shrieks in horror if he discovers someone violating them.
He is all over the school rules. He wants to be the best he can be. I am quite often scalded by him in the afternoon when I pick him up, for not waiting in the right spot. He observes unjust treatment and reports it in at regular intervals. He wears his backpack with pride and always with the hip belt done up. When he gets home, he unpacks the correct lunchboxes and places them on the sink before enquiring after afternoon tea.
Harry is a scientist and Jack is an entertainer.
Mr Woog's genetic influence can also be found in each of them. Like Harry, he shares a love of motorbikes, food and outdoor pursuits. They are both built the same way.
Mr Woog and Jack share the same love of routine and rules. Perhaps it can be classified as a mild case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Mr Woog comes home, has a shower, sniffs around the kitchen looking for something to eat and cracks open a beer. He unpacks his man bag, checks his phone and takes the kids outside for some manly time. You could almost set your clock by Mr Woog. At 6pm they are all in the kitchen where Jack likes to set the table each night, complete with a fresh picked bunch of flowers.
Depending on everyone's state of mind after dinner, we sometimes embark on a game of UNO which generally brings out the worst character traits in everyone. Mr Woog almost always wins as he is a strategic thinker. I usually just want the game to end asap. If Jack wins he screams with delight and yells "In Your Face!" and if he loses he retires for the evening sobbing in his bed. Harry is all like "whatever, can I have dessert?". I am not sure why I continue to torture myself suggesting this game. It just always seems like a good idea a the time.
And there are rare glimpses of similarities. As they grow older I can see that opposites can attract. I was delighted and surprised to see them playing with lego in the back yard this week. I almost fell over when I spotted them sharing the ipad nicely on the couch and this morning, I almost shed a tear when I saw Harry take Jack's hand and walk him into school.
But as I looked back over family photos with them this week after Nagy's funeral, pointing out all their relative (26 in our immediate family) I realised that you cannot choose your family, but I am dead proud of the ones that I made.
