NLB

Ok, back to the family. Nerdy Little Brother comes next. Yes, the only two boys in the family are sandwiched together in the middle. I think God knew what He was doing with that – if they had been separated with a girl in between, I don’t know if they would’ve made it through the great estrogen black hole that was our house. Three guys and six girls is almost balanced out – as long as the guys stick together.

NLB was nothing but noise. All the time. I think he even made noise in the womb. There was always some sort of sound effect or strange vocal utterance coming from his mouth. Of course, that makes for great impressions, now that he’s older. NLB’s imagination was probably the most active of all of us. Along with the noise, you could always tell where he was, and if it was quiet, it was not a good sign. NLB was constantly waging battles with opponents who were unseen by the rest of the family. However, he made enough noise for all of them.

People who weren’t familiar with this quirk were quite taken aback when we’d walk into the house and find NLB sprawled across the floor panting. “He got me!” he would gasp. Then we’d hear the bullets/swords/light sabers again. He’d combat roll and jump behind a piece of furniture…. “Get out of the way! You’re going to get hit!” he’d yell. The best thing to do was just not ask questions and move on.

NLB took his fit-throwing cues from Trump, and was just as animated with those as he was with his imaginary battles. He usurped her and became the master of fit-throwing in our house. He would have yelling-screaming-kicking-waving-face-turning-red fits, making his white hair look even whiter. He went through a phase at church – every time Mom would drop him off in the nursery, he’d throw one of these enormous fits. Everyone down the nursery hallway knew that NLB had arrived. The nursery workers still to this day refer to a giant fit as “Having an ‘NLB’” (he’s 15 now, by the way).

Imagine those fits while trying to give him medicine. Children’s medicine back then was all liquid, all the time. And it tasted horrible. NLB protested taking medicine quite vehemently, and it actually took two or three of us to give it to him. Dad traveled a lot at that time, so Mom, Curly, and I often had the task. You have no idea how hard it is to get Children’s Tylenol off of kitchen cabinets.

He was a sleeper, and still is. NLB was the first (and probably only) one of us who actually liked to be held and rocked to sleep. He had this special fuzzy blanket that he loved...Mickey Mouse, of course. He covered up with that thing whether it was 5 or 95 degrees – it didn’t matter. He didn’t actually sleep in the bed for a while during his childhood. For some reason, he found the floor more comfortable. And who were we to judge? “Let the kid sleep in the floor, if that’s what he wants” Mom would say. Where was that attitude when I didn’t want to wear ugly shoes?

NLB always had a soft heart for pets. When he was around three, we had one cat in particular that he loved, named Whiskers. She was a white cat with long, pretty fur. NLB loved to drag her around with him, and quite often would pick her up by the back and carry her like a suitcase. He’d haul her out to his little pedal-powered John Deere Gator, throw her up in the back, and ride around the yard. She didn’t seem to mind at all…as long as she was getting attention.

One of my most famous babysitting stories involves NLB…but it’s rather long, so I’ll have to tell you about that another time. Let’s just say that Mom will never be allowed to forget it…ever.

NLB has been strongly influenced by Husband and his PC-loving, internet hogging, gaming ways. At first, Mom bought the “educational” games and thought it was great that NLB had such an interest in them. Now she’s probably kicking herself, thinking, “What did I do?” and, “Thanks a lot, Superchikk and Husband!” NLB comes over for our LAN parties. He has probably spent more time at our house over the last two years than the rest of my family combined. I sort of feel bad about that, then I stop and remember that I’m not actually spending time with him while he’s there – he’s basking in the glow of his monitor in the office. So there’s really nothing for me to feel guilty about.

NLB is a servant at heart. He’s always helping and serving others somehow. I appreciate that about him, because somebody in our family needs to be thought of as “nice.” Makes the rest of us look good.