Do you copy?

I watch my kids often and think about when I was growing up and the relationship I had with my brother. There were moments when my brother and I were thick as thieves and moments when we could not stand to be in the same room as each other. Having a sibling is a blessing I did not always appreciate in my teenage years but as time went on and we became adults I find immeasurable value in having siblings. So many things I went through in life I survived because I had my brother to lean on or complain to, and that is still true to this day. Though time and distance do not provide us many opportunities to spend time together, I know that he is always a phone call or FaceTime away. I think about that and hope that my kids will find the same value in their relationship as well and today during nap time it occurred to me that I believe they will.
One of my favorite memories of my brother and I growing up was after our mom would tuck us in for bed and we thought she had gone downstairs to do some sewing or reading or something we would play games. Our bedrooms were right next door to each other. And so we could talk and hear each other well. One of the games we would play is "I am thinking of a person"....and we would go on to describe the person in as much detail as we could and see if the other person could figure out who we were describing. We would go on like this for a while until we would hear our Mom "ok you guys go to bed!" And we would wait....."hey are you awake"...."yep"....wanna play another game.....until we would eventually fall asleep.
My kids were gifted some walkie talkies from a friend of theirs recently. They have thoroughly enjoyed playing together with them. Today after I laid them down for naps I went downstairs to get started on my business proposal project for school. Then I heard it....(squawk from the walkie talkie) "hey H are you awake"...."yes brother"...."H you have to talk quietly so mommy can't hear us"...."ok brother"...."H you're supposed to say 'copy that' or '10-4'"...."ok brother" (I sit there and chuckle to myself as her 3 year old self just does not quite grasp the walkie talkie lingo) "H, do you want me to read you a bedtime story?" "Yes, brother"...and so her big brother begins to read her a bedtime story through the walkie talkie.
There are days they fight like nothing I have ever seen. Testing my patience and my inner mother strength not to yell and scream "knock it off". And then I get these moments. It is these moments that tug at my heart and let me know that someday they will value their relationship as much as I do the one I have with my brother.