Talking About Hopes to Build a Closer Sibling Relationship
Simona: Uh, are you going home for Christmas?
Joe: Yeah, I’ll be at home with my family.
Simona: Oh, you don’t sound too excited for that.
Joe: Um, when the whole family gets together I end up– I almost always end up getting into a screaming match with my one brother.
Simona: Oh, why? Do you guys just disagree on a lot of things?
Joe: Yeah, I mean, every time I’m like “I’m just gonna compromise, I’m not gonna be too picky,” but then there’s something that happens where, like, we end up scolding each other for stupid little things, and then it always ends with one or both of us screaming bloody murder.
Simona: Oh my gosh! Are you guys close in age or is he…?
Joe: Yeah.
Simona: Oh, OK.
Joe: Yeah, so we had a lot of competition issues growing up.
Simona: Hmm. Yeah, my sister is a lot younger than me so, um, I feel like I was always the one that was kind of screaming at her and scolding her, but she couldn’t really do anything about it,
Simona: so my experience was a little bit different than yours. My sister will just kind of be like, “Whatever,” she’ll just take it, but I feel like if my sister were a little bit closer to my age it would be hard for her.
Joe: Yeah, well that’s the problem, is that both of us have trouble letting anything go.
Simona: Right
Joe: Um, yeah, so, I’m just going to try and be on my best behavior and hope that this is the year that we just figure it out.
Simona: It’s family, what are you gonna do.
Vocabulary:
gets together – (phrasal verb) meets or gathers with other people to spend time with them, “The entire family usually gets together for a big dinner on Thanksgiving.”
end up – (phrasal verb) to find oneself in a particular place, situation, or state, often without planning it, “If you do not study for your exams, you might end up failing the class.”
screaming match – (noun) a loud, angry argument or fight where people shout at each other, “The neighbors got into a loud screaming match over where to park their cars.”
compromise – (verb) to agree to accept less than what you originally wanted so that an agreement can be reached, “We couldn’t agree on which movie to watch, so we had to compromise on a comedy.”
picky – (adjective) very fussy and hard to please; only liking specific things, “My little brother is incredibly picky when it comes to eating vegetables.”
scolding – (verb) speaking angrily to someone because they have done something wrong; reprimanding, “The teacher was scolding the students for talking during the quiet study time.”
screaming bloody murder – (idiom) screaming or shouting very loudly in a state of extreme anger, fear, or excitement, “The toddler started screaming bloody murder when his mother took away his toy.”
close in age – (expression) having very similar ages or being born only a few years apart, “My sister and I are very close in age, so we shared a lot of the same friends.”
competition issues – (expression) difficulties, rivalries, or arguments that come from trying to be better or more successful than someone else, “The two athletes had serious competition issues that affected their teamwork.”
growing up – (phrasal verb) the process of developing from a child into an adult, “I spent most of my time playing outdoors while growing up in the countryside.”
take it – (idiom) to accept or endure a difficult, unpleasant, or abusive situation without complaining or fighting back, “Even though the boss was very strict, she decided to just take it because she needed the job.”
letting anything go – (idiom) forgiving, forgetting, or releasing feelings of anger and resentment about a past event, “They had a minor argument last week, but they both have trouble letting anything go.”
on my best behavior – (idiom) behaving in a very polite, quiet, and proper way to avoid causing trouble or making a bad impression, “I promised my parents that I would be on my best behavior during the fancy dinner.”
figure it out – (phrasal verb) to find a solution to a problem, or to understand something after thinking about it, “It took us several hours to figure it out, but we finally fixed the computer.”
what are you gonna do – (idiom/rhetorical question) a phrase used to show that you must accept a difficult or annoying situation because there is no way to change it, “The train is delayed again, but what are you gonna do?”