I Only Say It Cos I Care

My brother always says that I was a cruel and heinous big sister. I never thought I was very mean to him. True, I forced him to wear some of my dress-up clothes from time to time and yes, there may have been times in my younger years when I shoved him a smidge too hard when playing snow football, but I felt I was a kind and just elder sister. My elementary school best friend was the paragon of horrible big sister to me. She would rage-- I mean shrieking, red-faced tirades-- at her younger brother for the smallest of indiscretions. Of course, this only made him bother her more. Even when I was in my single digits, I thought she should take it down a bit. My brother says I got much cooler when I got to high school, mainly because I wasn't home as much and when he was in junior high I'd drive him to school.

Okay, maybe a little cruel. And I wish I could still work shorts like those.

All this is to say that it's taking every ounce of self-control I have to not email my brother and brag that I'm smarter than him.

A massive study by Norwegian scientists appearing in today's edition of the journal Science concludes that a child raised as the eldest has a higher intelligence quotient, on average, than younger siblings.

Yes, the bossy mean side of me wants to brag that my IQ is higher than my dear brother's. However, my brother is having a hard time finding a new job so he's kind of down, and I don't want to hurt his feelings. Also, his only bills are internet and car insurance and he's not in the hole tens of thousands of dollars for a liberal arts education, so the jury's still out on our family. I guess I'll just have to give him a good shove the next time I see him to ensure his humility instead. I'll just have to hope he won't kick my ass in return since he's bigger than me.