"We are really angry because sweet Dash squeezed me real hard. You tell him to hug me."

-Dash and Calder

Brotherly Love

Just about every group of siblings fights with each other. Sometimes it's for a legitimate reason, but I would say that probably 90 percent of the time it's over nothing and we just fight to, well, fight. I'm the oldest in the family and Calder is the baby, and Dash is in between us. While I won't fight Calder and Calder won't fight me, Dash will fight both of us. He loves to burst into my room when I'm asleep, he'll jump out of a corner to tackle me, and he'll also throw Calder up in the air or knock him down when playing on the lawn. To a passing stranger, it looks like we're all pretty mean. After all, should Dash fight with someone who has special needs?

This might be controversial, but I think a bit of roughhousing here and there is not bad at all. We're boys and we're physical and a lot of times when we're trying to knock each other down, we're also laughing. We never intend to hurt one another a lot. We just want to hurt the other enough to establish whose better. And if Dash and I fight all the time, wouldn't Calder feel excluded if he is not part of this brotherly event? I say he would.

Calder's autism and age do dictate special rules, though. For example, while Dash and I are less than two years apart in age, there are four years between Dash and Calder. So Dash has to be a little more careful (and to be honest he probably should be more careful, I mean Calder's quote even suggests this). But outside of Calder's age, there is of course his autism. Now, Calder can't really punch or slap or kick. In fact, he can't really do anything really painful. And Dash knows this and so he generally doesn't punch or slap or kick Calder and if he does it's in more of a light-hearted and playful manner. Calder can run, and run fast, so when he sees Dash in his rough and tumble big brother mode, Calder can take off. But he takes off laughing, and Dash chases him growling like a dinosaur, and when Dash finally does sack him, most of the time he tickles him.

Sometimes Dash isn't gentle, and that's when Calder tattles on him. And you know, besides the chase and tackle of brotherhood, there's the fun of ratting out your brother so he gets busted. And believe me, Calder is the king of getting us busted.