My Dear "Kindred Spirit,"

Joe says I should title this “Teamwork”, as it shows how being aware and ready to act at all times can sometimes give better results than any pre-planned situation could. I insist that Never Trust Any Brothers fits it better. And I’m writing it, so I get to pick the title.

It was a Saturday morning in early June. Someone had found a few balloons, and they were playing around with them. Luke took one and filled it partially with water, then blew it up the rest of the way and tied it.

I was reading on the couch, when Luke walks over and hands me this balloon. Knowing my brothers, I watched him suspiciously as I took the balloon. But, strangely, he simply hands it to me and walks away. It was rather interesting – the balloon half – filled with water. So I’m kind of playing around with this balloon (holding it right over my lap, of course), and still keeping an eye on Luke – even though he has moved to the other end of the room, I still don’t dare turn my back on him.

What I didn’t realize was that Ben was sitting next to me on the couch. And Joe was in a chair near Ben. Joe carries this handy-dandy little utility knife around in his pocket (he claims it comes in handy for opening boxes at work). So, as you have probably figured out by now, Joe sees me with this balloon – and a water balloon at that – and instantly his face lights up and out comes the knife. Somehow the message gets conveyed to Ben – he gets a knife shoved into his hand and Joe starts frantically gesturing toward me. Ben turns and sees the balloon – and his whole face lights up.

During the three seconds it took for all this to take place, I’m still watching Luke suspiciously. The next thing I knew, I had water all over my skirt.

As the boys all howled with laughter, I jumped up, dumping water all over the floor as I did so, gave Ben a well – deserved kick in the shin, then slapped Joe.

If you have any siblings, you know that little incident started a water fight.

I bowed out of the fight after we all got in trouble for breaking the “outside only” rule. Interestingly, though, mom actually didn’t notice what was going on until Ben accidentally got her with a cupful that was meant for me (I guess I ducked a little too quickly).

Several hours later I took a walk down near the pond. It was a nice day out. And lucky for the boys that it was. They had gotten themselves into a “real” water fight. I watched them chase each other around the pond with five-gallon pails, being careful to keep a safe distance away from the action – the pails were not the worst of the situation, which Luke could have told you as he flew through the air and touched down with a splash in the middle of the pond.