Clara and Lydia were eating a snack at the counter the other day when Lydia sneezed rather dramatically. Clara curled her nose, but found a soft tone with which to teach her younger sister an exasperated lesson on how to sneeze properly.

“Lydia.” she began. “You should cover your mouth when you sneeze.” Lydia obediently complied. Faking a sneeze into her hand.

After a moment Clara continued, very purposefully not looking down. “Good. Also, when you sneeze, you should turn you head to the side, like this.” she demonstrated. Lydia again mimicked the motions perfectly, staring intently at her wise sister. “Very good.” said the older girl focused on her crackers.

“Now go over there.” she motioning randomly towards the living room. The little girl quickly moved to the far corner of the house and pretended to sneeze into her sleeve. Then she looked back to her sister for further instructions. But there were no further instructions. Just an older child sitting casually at the counter eating two bowls of crackers as if she were an only child and little sisters that sneeze while you are enjoying lunch were never invented.

Older siblings are all the same.