[#CreativeAward2024] Grandmother & Younger Sister Edition

When writing about my family, I focus mainly on those who have passed away so as not to cause trouble for my sister and father who are "living in the present," but my sister inevitably ends up appearing. However, when talking about my grandmother, my sister is indispensable. Therefore, I have told my sister that I will only include parts related to our grandmother and mother, and I have obtained her consent.

So, today I will share an episode about my sister. Since my sister back then looks nothing like she does now, I can safely write about past facts to my heart's content.

My Beauty-Conscious Grandmother

The beauty standards my grandmother held were a high nose, double eyelids, a widow's peak, and an oval face. Unlike me, my sister was a healthy, well-fed child. Unlike me, who would eat nothing but cucumbers, my sister was a plump, adorable toddler. I also loved my round little sister.

However, she was so round that even her eyelids were puffed up tight. My grandmother was worried that her cute granddaughter wouldn't develop double eyelids. Also, perhaps because she had so much baby fat, my sister's nose looked small and button-like. That was cute too, but my grandmother worried that her nose would stay flat.

My grandmother thought.

If she doesn't have double eyelids, I'll just make them. If her nose isn't high, I'll just stretch it.

She told my reluctant sister, "It will make you beautiful," and forcibly attached clothespins to her eyelids. It hurt, but my sister endured it because my grandmother kept praising her, saying, "You look so cute."

She endured it, but when our mother came home, she screamed and removed the clothespins. Hearing our mother's scream, my sister started crying.

My grandmother thought if eyelids didn't work, she would try clipping her nose with a clothespin, but this seemed to be quite painful, and my sister cried. You can't continue if your cute granddaughter is crying. She gave up on making her nose higher.

However, unable to give up on the double eyelids, my grandmother came up with the idea of sticking tape on her eyelids. Perhaps because this method felt like putting stickers on her face, my sister didn't mind it as much. Seeing her smiling with tape on her eyelids, I felt sorry for her as a child.

My sister, who had been happy wearing the tape all day, showed her face to our mother when she came home. Our mother screamed while removing the tape. She thought the soft skin of a toddler would get irritated. Hearing our mother's scream, my sister started crying.

Fortunately, I was thin and wrinkled all over, so my grandmother, who mistook my wrinkles for double eyelids, didn't subject me to her rough methods.

My Grandmother Who Wanted to Cut Hair

Because it would hurt our eyesight if it got in our eyes, we sisters had only two choices: grow our bangs out or keep them short. Following that instruction, I grew my bangs out and spent my early elementary school years being teased by boys for having a "big forehead," but by the time I reached the upper grades, my eyesight had worsened. If it was going to get bad anyway, I wish she had let me have bangs.

My sister wanted bangs and begged our mother to let her go to a hair salon. Bangs were something I wasn't allowed to have, but the youngest child is good at being spoiled. Our mother allowed my sister to get bangs. As I was despairing in my heart, thinking, "Why!", my grandmother said,

"Why would you go to a shop to get them cut when she's so small!"

She insisted that she would cut them herself.

"Huh?"

Our mother was shaken. But in times like these, our mother couldn't go against our grandmother.

"Grandma will make you look cute."

My younger sister sat obediently in the chair with a big smile on her face...

If I write it like this, you can probably guess what happened. That's right. My grandmother had cut her bangs to an outrageous length.

"Isn't it cute!"

It's true that even with short bangs, children in the lower grades of elementary school look cute. But even lower graders have their pride. My sister said,

"I'm skipping school!"

and cried her eyes out. It was pitiful...

It was pitiful that her bangs were so short, but my sister wasn't allowed to stay home and went to school every day. It makes my heart ache a little to think about what she might have been told in the classroom.

When her bangs finally grew out, my sister went to a hair salon to get them cut. My grandmother didn't say she would cut them either. I guess she realized she had failed after all...

When my sister returned from the hair salon, she had short bangs again.

Was my sister destined to have short bangs? Once she grew up and could travel by train, she started finding her own hair salons to get her hair cut.

Grandmother's reflection

We grew up watching our grandmother serve tea to guests and say, "Please, have some." Serve tea when guests arrive. So, my sister followed those instructions faithfully.

To a pushy door-to-door salesman.

When my grandmother returned from shopping, a man with a sinister look on his face was sitting at the low table drinking tea. My sister was sitting next to him, smiling.

"Grandma, I served him tea."

My grandmother couldn't scold my sister. After all, she was the one who had taught her to serve tea.

"You did a good job..."

she said, while glaring at the salesman. The salesman, unable to refuse my sister's offer of tea, apparently stammered out some excuses, but upon seeing my grandmother's demonic expression, he reportedly fled at top speed.

The salesman, having had his spirit drained by my sister, couldn't do his business and fled even though he hadn't done anything wrong. I feel a little sorry for him.

Having reflected on her actions, my grandmother taught my younger sister again that she must not let anyone into the house except for her own friends.

"It was rare for Grandma to reflect on anything."

I still remember my mother laughing as she said that.

Grandmother confronts the greengrocer

My younger sister loved fava beans. Because of this, when fava bean season arrived, my grandmother would buy them every day, boil them, and serve them. My sister was naturally a child with a good appetite, but one day, she was so happy that she ate an abnormal amount.

That night, my sister, who was known for her good health, suffered from a stomachache. She had eaten too many fava beans. It was her own fault, right? However, my grandmother did not see it that way.

The next day, she went to the greengrocer.

"My granddaughter got a stomachache because of the fava beans from your shop!"

She reportedly stormed in and shouted that. As soon as she returned home,

"I gave the greengrocer a good piece of my mind."

Hearing her say that, my mother turned pale. She was mortified by my grandmother's incredibly selfish claim.

"I was so embarrassed by the snide remarks I got."

My mother sighed for a while. After my sister's stomachache incident, fava beans became only an occasional treat.

Grandmother takes on the job of Santa

"There's no present from Santa."

After starting kindergarten and learning about the existence of Santa, my sister cried on the morning of December 25th. Until then, she had only ever received Christmas presents from our parents.

At the time, it was decided that Santa would not visit our house. According to my mother, when she asked me,

"What do you want from Santa?"

I replied,

"Santa doesn't exist."

They said I told them that, so they only gave me presents from my parents, but I have no memory of ever saying such a thing. Because my mother labeled me a dreamless child who didn't believe in Santa, it was decided that Santa wouldn't come to our house. Did I really say as a toddler that Santa didn't exist? The truth remains in the dark.

Because of that, my younger sister also lived her life without knowing about Santa's existence, but she ended up learning about Santa Claus at kindergarten.

To my sister who was crying saying he didn't exist, my mother said,

"Santa is just running late!"

She started saying that. She couldn't help but find her youngest child crying because Santa didn't exist absolutely adorable. She glared at me, silently pressuring me not to say anything unnecessary. I also shouted,

"That's right! He's just late!"

I shouted.

On the morning of December 26th, an assortment of snacks in a boot was placed by my sister's pillow.

"Santa came!"

My sister was beaming.

My grandmother had bought it at the shopping district so my sister wouldn't find out, following the morning commotion. Thanks to the brilliant teamwork of my mother and grandmother, Santa Claus safely visited my sister.

Thinking it would be bad if he only came to my sister and not to me, the older sister, I also received snacks in a boot every year. Until my sister graduated from elementary school, the boots were delivered every year on the morning of December 25th by a Santa Claus named Grandmother.

I am a lucky person to have such a cute younger sister.

Since I've exceeded 3000 characters, I'll end it here. Starting next week, I want to challenge the #CreativeAward2024 in a slightly different way. Rest assured, if I feel like writing funny stories about my grandmother, I will write them irregularly.