Sibling Rivalry: How Sweet Are You? | Behrman House Publishing

Your older sister is allowed to stay up an hour later than you. You complain to your parents that it’s not fair. They tell you that she’s older and that when you’re her age, you’ll also be allowed to stay up later. You *

Tell your parents that you understand, and go to sleep when they tell you to.

Tell your parents that it’s really a mitzvah for you to stay up late because then you’ll be really tired on Shabbat and will appreciate it as a day of rest.

Put on lipstick or a fake mustache to convince your parents that you’re much older than they think you are.

Your brother and his friend are playing with PlayStation 2, and your brother won’t let you play with them. You *

Tell your brother that you understand that he wants to have some time alone with his friend.

Remove the game they’re playing from the PlayStation 2 and replace it with a potato latke.

Sing “Havah Nagilah” and dance around them in a circle until they let you play.

You have two tickets to an Avril Lavigne concert. You want to take your best friend, but your sister really wants to go. You *

Apologize to your best friend and explain that you would love to go with her but you don’t want to hurt your sister’s feelings.

Rip the ticket in half and give one part to each of them.

Tell your sister that you’ll take a photo of her and bring it to the concert so it will be just like she was there.

You’re at synagogue and your older brother falls asleep while the rabbi is talking. You *

Quietly wake your brother by closing a Siddur on his face.

Quietly wake your brother with a tap on the shoulder.

Remove your brother’s kippah and replace it with a slice of lox from the kiddush table.

You’re trying to study for your bat mitzvah and your sister is playing her Justin Timberlake CD so loudly you can’t concentrate. You *

Politely ask your sister to turn down the volume of the CD player.

Incorporate some of Justin Timberlake’s songs into the bat mitzvah service.

Wake up at 5 a.m. the next day and sing your Haftorah in front of your sister’s door.

Your brother wants spaghetti for dinner, but you want pizza. You keep arguing with him but he won’t change his mind. You *

Slice the pizza into super-thin slices until you have spaghetti pizza.

Handcuff yourself to the refrigerator and refuse to move until you get your way.

Tell him that you’ll settle for spaghetti this time, so long as you can have pizza next time.

You’re late for school and your sister is taking too long in the bathroom. You *

Wait until your sister leaves the bathroom and then fill her shampoo bottle with Manischewitz grape juice.

Take your morning shower with the hose in the backyard.

Wait patiently until your sister leaves the bathroom.