My little brother and I are very close and do everything together.
When our mom died last year, I could tell that he was really close and needed support and guidance. I sort of took him under my wing, and now we are pretty much inseparable. Our dad has us do house chores together as a family, like cleaning the air ducts. I personally hate having to clean the air ducts because it really messes with my allergies. My little brother hates the air ducts because he thinks they are scary and riddled with spiders and ghosts. I think the echo sounds in the ducts make him feel like ghosts are screaming his name. I decided to turn the chore into a game that would help him have a more positive association with the air ducts, or air conditioner as a whole. He really liked the game and now he even volunteers to go first whenever we have to clean the air ducts. I’m not sure why my dad has us do it instead of calling an air conditioning technician for it. It doesn’t seem like the safest idea to basically have children crawling into air ducts in the house, but maybe he just really wants us to learn more hands-on skills. I don’t always understand why my dad does what he does, but I think that he really loves us and wants us to feel like a whole family now that my mom is gone. The memory of her will live forever, but I definitely miss her every day.