[UA] UA Junior.

[holycrow at mindspring.com]

Okay, so I had a boring job of work to do (putting documents in order) and to divert myself I downloaded the January 16th episode of This American Life (www.thislife.org) -- Babysitting.

Two stories were very, VERY relevant to UA Junior.  The second section had these brothers talking about how one of them (the eldest) would babysit them Lord of the Flies style -- complete with "Bravery Tests" and bizarre practices that led one brother to eventually tell him "Okay.  I'm done.  Kill me, or do whatever you're going to do.  Just get it over with."  

Today, all the brothers agree that this made them closer as a family, and despite the pure terror they describe at their oldest brother's antics, they agree that they wouldn't change it.

Third act is this seventy-plus-year old brother and sister telling about how they spun out an incredible web of lies to escape from a mom who was, not to be blunt or judgemental, PSYCHO.  Or at least a terrible, terrible parent.  

In fact, now that I think about it, the bit about all the children of divorced parents getting snowed in at O'Hare the day after Christmas could work as a UA Jr. scenario too...

I think the key to this would be capturing the child's experience as seen through the child's eyes.  I know I questioned and accepted different things as an adolescent than I do now.  One of the scariest experiences I've ever had was going back and reading my daily journal from 1985 or thereabouts.

-G.

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