Battle Buddy

Back when the twins were little, Andrew and Daniel were in Civil Air Patrol and introduced to me the concept of having a Battle Buddy. Even though I didn't know exactly what a Battle Buddy was supposed to do, I was fascinated by the idea and looked around for a Battle Buddy of my own. Despite the fact I had been asking for a sister for exactly 4 years and 345 days, I skipped right over Elizabeth and decided Aaron would be perfect. He had little say in the matter, but because I had spent so many days on the couch feeding him his bottle, picking up his dropped toys and kissing him, I was sure he didn't mind. As his Battle Buddy, I have been Aaron's main (and favorite) hairdresser, ironer of Sunday clothes, and Diplomat Between the Parentals and Their Children (Elizabeth has made good use of that one over the years also).

Our latest and greatest way of bonding is playing xbox games together. Aaron will be the first to tell you that I am not an expert at any game that requires me to simultaneously jump, shoot, and watch for enemies. My expertise lies more in the area of car racing, not because I'm very good at it, but because driving is something I know about while simultaneously jumping, shooting, and watching for enemies is not. Knowing he needed a new one and that the xbox is where our main bonding happens these days, Christopher and I got Aaron a new racing game called Burnout Paradise. The first thing I noticed when we played it this week was when the narrator said "you'll never have another ride like this". I am so grateful for that because I spent half the time driving into telephone poles and the other half seeing WRECKED WRECKED flash across the screen while my car went hurling through the California interstate. That's not exactly an experience I'd like to relive.

It really is no surprise that I get way more into the driving than Aaron does. When the road turns to the left, my whole body turns left. When I crash into other cars (something that happens very often), I apologize profusely. I might even throw a few yells in there if I feel the ride is especially wild. Aaron just sits there calmly getting tons of points and very seldom crashing. He always tells me which car to pick (he knows I'd pick a car based purely on the color) and which ramps to drive up so I can get extra turbo boosts. He's kind of a nice Battle Buddy to have around.