The Wordsmith's Forge

>> I think one of the benefits of having a brother was that we really didn't have issues with gendered toys. Meaning, he would receive "boy" toys, I would receive "girl" toys but during playtime we pooled them and played with both. Power Rangers lived in my dollhouse for example. <<

That makes sense, and it's exactly what Flip and Alexa have been doing.

>> I think it also helped that our parents never allowed us to get too possessive of most of our toys. It was just understood that if we weren't actively playing with an object, it was up for grabs by anyone else. <<

Very sensible. In this story, I think it helps that Flip and Alexa are both pretty laid-back people. It's not like trying to wrangle kids like Clint and Tony who, if they couldn't find any trouble, were always ready to make their own.

>> There were exceptions such as my favorite teddy bear and his stuffed dinosaur. (Those were the toys that were put in the closet during playdates because they weren't "sharing" toys. They were very special and belonged exclusively to us.) <<

I think it's important that children have a right to some things of their very own ...

>> Still, for the most part, toys were kind of a free-for-all at our house. We learned early that fighting over them just got them taken away until further notice and that it was just easier to figure out how to cooperate without involving adults. <<

... and learn to share others.

I'm not always great at sharing. I've made a point of practicing, though; it's a key reason why I write in Torn World which is a shared-world setting. And that contributes to me sharing my settings with other people, which is all awesome, because that means more goodies for everyone.

>> Anyway, my brother played with my dolls and my Barbies, (although unlike Flip, he seemed to enjoy undressing the Barbies more than dressing them.) He played with them with me and occasionally without me. I played with his Legos and Action Figures probably more than he played with my dolls. <<

It's wonderful that you got along and exchanged toys like that.

>> I really enjoyed reading about the cooperation between siblings in your story. <<

Yay! Hart's Farm and Monster House have some really strong sibling relationships, if you want more.

>> I think that one of the reasons I really like they way you are portraying Flip's relationship with his sister is because many authors take it for granted that the sitcom portrayal of sibling fighting is pretty much the only kind of relationship that siblings have. <<

That's really sad. I guess I hadn't realized how pervasive that was, but yeah, it's almost universal. We need more renditions of healthy sibling relationships.

>> Before puberty, my brother and I rarely fought. Even after, our fights were more over my insistence on greater privacy than over objects or privileges. <<

I'm happy to hear that. You're lucky to have a good family.

>> I like Flip and his family and the way they are handling all the obstacles that life is handing them. <<

Yay! It's very hard for them, but they're making a lot of progress.

>> I also like seeing where Phil's discipline techniques come from. It is very clear that he is taking a pages from his mom's book when dealing with Clint and Tony. <<

Absolutely. Some of what Phil does with the Avengers is stuff he discovered later, but the core of it is from his mom.