My son’s preschool teacher once told me a story.

Her son was leaving for college. Her daughter was still at home—and completely distraught. Crying. Missing him already.

I remember thinking, That’s how I want my kids to be.

And I still do.

Of course, right now? They are not exactly the picture of sibling bliss.

A teen and a tween walk into the house…sounds like the beginning of a bad dad joke.

Hormones.
Homework.
Friend groups.
So. Much. Baseball.

And an insatiable need to annoy whoever is in their way—namely, each other.

She’s doing homework in the exact spot he wants to sit and have a snack after school.
He won’t play Minecraft with her because he’d rather play something else with his friends.

And on and on and on.

To be fair, I get it. My sister and I bickered—a lot. And when my mom would finally raise her voice and say, “Girls, that’s enough,” she meant it.

Still, I catch glimpses of what could be.

Recently, I watched another family’s older son and younger daughter walk into school together. They looked…easy. In sync. Chatting about the day ahead.

On the first day of school this year, I was so happy when my two walked in together. With everything changing, at least they had one constant: each other.

Last week, my daughter came home and told me she said hi to her brother in the hallway—and he ignored her.

She also informed me that another brother/sister pair at school has a rule: if they see each other in the building, they have to acknowledge each other.

(The younger one apparently takes this very seriously and yells down the hallway. We’re not adopting that part.)

I said, “That’s a fantastic idea. New rule.”

It was met with dramatic eye rolls.

And now, daily reports:
“He didn’t say hi to me.”
“I did! It was just low, like this—hi.”
“I said hi to her today.”

They’re not thrilled about it. But they do it.

And maybe that’s enough for now.

Because if I can keep them acknowledging each other—just a simple “hi” in a crowded hallway—maybe there’s hope.

After all, my sister and I made it.

We’re best friends now.

And I have to believe they’ll get there too.