Stressed
March 11 1987
Typical Tuesday, Yakko thought, mom and dad are at work, and I'm at home looking after my brother all day.
He was sitting on the couch, bag of potato chips in his hand. His mom had told him not to eat so many, saying that they'd been going through at least 2 bags in a week. He didn't really care that much of what she said, she was always working anyway, so it's not like she could enforce it on him.
The TV was on, nothing interesting, he was mostly using it for background noise. It was a news channel, Toon news to be exact. Famous toon anchor Buzz Badger was hosting today, he learned about him from one of the history books his aunt had bought for him. Arenia had told him that he was very advanced for his age, most children his age wouldn't be reading the books that he was. Yakko grinned when she told him this, he liked it when he was told how smart he was.
He had been working hard to show his parents that he was responsible, since he found out he would be having another sibling soon. True, he'd been doing a good job already, but he felt it wasn't enough for him. He wanted his parents to be proud.
"Yakko", a small voice called," me wake up".
Speaking of which.
He looked to his right, where his brother's crib was. Wakko was holding onto the bars of the crib, bouncing up and down over and over.
"Me wake up, me wake up", the little boy chanted.
Giving out a loud sigh, he set the bag of chips to the left of him and hopped off the couch. He walked towards Wakko, who was sticking his tongue out cheerfully, repeating,"Me wake up", over and over again. It was aggravating him a little, but he didn't really mind. Siblings are just like that, they can be aggravating one second and then happy and cheerful the next.
He pulled the stool out from under the crib, stepping onto it. Wakko looked to be very happy to see him.
"Yakko here", Wakko stated,"me awake"!!
"I know, you're awake. Don't have to keep repeating it sib, I'm going to give you your morning bottle, I promise".
His brother grinned, clapping his hands together making, squealing at the top of his lungs.
Yakko rolled his eyes.
In his own world, I guess.
"Quiet down a little Wak, I know you're very happy this morning, but mom doesn't want the neighbors yelling at us again".
"Very happy", Wakko replied, raising his arms to the air.
"Now come on", he continued,"it's about time we get this day going"!
Yakko then proceeded to lift his brother out of the crib.
"Weee", Wakko hollard. Yakko flinched a little, almost dropping his brother on the floor. His brother's sudden announcement startled him.
He decided to ignore it as it wasn't that big of a deal. Maybe he would talk to him about an inside voice if something similar were to happen again.
Pretty smart thinking coming from a 5 year old, he thought.
He stepped off the stool, proceeding to carry Wakko to the dining room table across the room. While their apartment was small, he liked how the table was practically right next to his brother's crib. It was really convenient that way. That was the perk of a small apartment, it's very easy to move around in.
He approached Wakko's respective highchair. His little face grin, Yakko knew his brother was excited for this part.
"Ready sib", he asked.
Wakko nodded his head.
"Alright, ready set, weeeee"!!
He lifted his brother in the air, Wakko squealed, Yakko knew very well that his brother enjoyed this a lot. He then set his sibling down in the highchair. Wakko looked at him, a smile on his face, tongue sticking out.
It appeared that his small sibling was starting to get a little big for the highchair. His mom told him the other day that when his new sibling was born, Wakko would be switching to sitting in an actual chair.
Yakko was a little nervous about his brother's transition out of the highchair. Would Wakko be secure in a standard wooden chair? For him, he made the big transition when he was two, and Wakko still had a while to go before he hit that age.
His mom went on to state that it would be fine, and that there was nothing to be afraid of. She could say that a million times, but he's still gonna be worried no matter what. Words don't necessarily change thoughts and feelings.
"Hang in there for a while sib", Yakko told his brother," I'll get you your milk".
He left Wakko unintended and went into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he saw two baby bottles filled up with milk. He grabbed the one labeled "Morning" and headed back to where his sibling was happily awaiting him.
He stood on his toes, putting the bottle in front of Wakko. He grabbed the bottle out of his hand, putting it up to his mouth, the little child started sucking on it.
Yakko couldn't help but give out a smile,he didn't know what his life would be like if he didn't have a brother. While they both had their ups and downs, he loved Wakko to death and nothing would ever change that. He'd been watching Wakko grow up, every step of the way. And to think that soon, he'll have another sibling to give bunches of love to.
"Me finish", Wakko announced as he banged his bottle on the highchair.
"Good job sib", he said, rubbing his sibling's head,"now it's time for a little applesauce, ok"?
Wakko's face turned into a frown.
"But I don't want it", he whined.
"Well too bad, mom says you need to have it".
"No, yucky"!!
"Come on, it's just apple sauce".
"Noooo", his brother whined,"Me no want sauce"!!
Yakko groaned, he knew how much his sib hated applesauce. Part of him wants to be nice and not give it to him, but unfortunately, he had no choice. His mom had told him that his brother needs to eat it, saying it's good for him.
He remembered when he was his brother's age, both his parents insisted that he at least take 5 bites of applesauce. And if he refused, he would be grounded, and banned from TV for a few days. He hated it so much, he would get grounded all the time for not eating his applesauce.
Now, Wakko was in the exact same place. Mom was now working nonstop, and didn't have enough time to feed it to him. So, she made it his job to make sure he ate a little applesauce every single day. He was now in his parents shoes, struggling to feed his brother the applesauce. Now, he finally understood why his parents would get so angry at him for refusing to eat it.
"How bout I make a deal with you", Yakko said, smirking,"If you eat your applesauce then we could..we could...jump on mom and dad's bed"!
Wakko smiled,"jump on bed"?
Yakko grinned, nodding his head.
"That's right my little sibling of mine. But only if you eat a little applesauce for me".
"Me eat, me jump on bed"!!
He shrugged his shoulders, this was easier than he thought.
"Alright Wak, but no fussing about eating applesauce".
"Me fuss"!!
"No you don't fuss. You eat applesauce like a good boy so we can jump on Mom and dad's bed, ok"?
"Ok", his brother said,"me good boy".
"You are", he replied, rubbing his sibling's head. He grabbed the empty baby bottle from off the highchair, and left Wakko to go to the kitchen.
He threw the bottle into the sink, then swung around to open the fridge. Reaching his arm towards the back of the fridge, grabbed a container of applesauce. Closing the fridge, he quickly grabbed a small spoon from the dish drainer.
Yakko took a deep breath.
Stay calm, he told himself, if he acts fussy, remind him about his reward.
He started to feel unsure about this, but he had to do it no matter what. His mom was counting on him.
Hope mom and dad don't mind that we jump on their bed, Yakko thought, hopefully not, it's for a good cause after all.
Suddenly feeling more confident about himself, he exited the kitchen back to the dining room table. His brother was still sitting happily in his highchair, banging his fists down on the tray of the chair. Wakko started quieting down as he got closer and closer to him, he started to lose his confidence again. Hopefully this wouldn't be that bad, it seemed as if his convincing had worked earlier.
He placed the cup of applesauce and the spoon on the table. He pulled the flap off of it, trying not to take too much notice of his brother's disappearing smile. He picked up the small container, sticking the spoon inside. Wakko had a disgusted look on his face.
Stay calm, he told himself, you can do this.
He dug the spoon around in the applesauce a little, he thought it to be disgusting himself. He could see why his brother despises it so much. Lifting the spoon out, a tiny bit of applesauce in it, he slowly inched the spoon towards his brother.
"No", Wakko said, turning his head away.
"Come on, can you make this a little bit easier", he complained.
"No, me no like it.''
"Please, 3 spoonfuls and that'll be it".
"No, me no like applesauce".
Yakko groaned, why does he even try to think positively if everything just goes wrong for him?
"Come on sib", Yakko told him, raising his voice a little," just one bite".
"No", his brother whined,"not gonna"!!
"Here comes the plane"!
"No, don't like"!!
Yakko gave a sly smile,"do you remember about your little award, by any chance"?
His brother perked up
"What"?
"Maybe...I don't know, something about jumping on Mom and dad's bed"?
Wakko's face suddenly turned into a delighted one.
"Yes, yes", he chanted,"me jump on da bed".
"Ok, but you gotta eat applesauce first".
"Me do, gimme sauce"!!
Yakko smirked, he said cheekily," I don't know, I thought you didn't like applesauce".
"No, me eat me eat, gimme gimme"!!!
He gave the cup of applesauce to his brother, and just like that, the little guy was chowing down on it like it was no tomorrow.
Yakko smiled.
You did good Yakko, you did good.
After lunch, he decided to quickly get Wakko dressed before they played. He slipped a pair of blue overalls over his diaper, pulling the straps over a red shirt. It closely resembled what he was wearing, except he was wearing white pants instead of overalls.
"When we jump?", his brother asked him.
Yakko gave a puzzled look at him.
"What"?
"When we jump?", he repeated.
Then Yakko realized.
"Oh, you mean when are we jumping on Mom and Dad's bed? In a second, just need to finish buttoning your overalls".
Then Wakko became super excited at that moment, he started jumping up and down.
"Me jump, me jump", he said happily.
"Wakko stop, your overalls are coming undone"!!
His brother suddenly stopped, his overalls slipped off, revealing his diaper underneath. He looked up at him with a blank stare.
"Why?", he suddenly asked," me like jump".
"I know you do, but let's wait till you're dressed, ok"?
Wakko smiled," Listen to Yakko", he declared.
He chuckled a little at his brother's statement, he'd never said that before.
"Yup, you listen to me, I know best".
Remembering what he was doing before, he pulled up Wakko's overalls, making sure to button them tightly. It was so easy to make his brother listen to him, he barely has to even try.
"Me listen to brother Yakko", his brother continued," brother know best".
"I certainly do", he replied, booping Wakko's nose.
His brother laughed,"that tickle, me like"!
Yakko shared a laugh of his own, his brother could be so adorable. He finished buttoning Wakko's overalls, doing a last minute check just to make sure they were secured properly.
He smiled at his brother,"do you know what time it is Wakko"?
"Jump on bed"!!
"That's right sib, what are we waiting for, let's go"!!
He grabbed onto his sibling's hand and they ran to their parents bedroom. Entering the room, there was a huge, queen sized bed in the middle of the room, a closet to the right of the bed, and a large omware to the left.
The bed was covered in a dark blue comforter, with matching dark blue pillow sheets covering the pillows.
They climbed onto the bed, standing up on it. Yakko grabbed onto Wakko's hands, closing them tight.
"Ready?", he asked his sib.
Wakko nodded," ready"!!
At that moment, he and Wakko started bouncing up and down on the bed.
"Boingy, boingy, boingy, boingy", they chanted in unison.
Yakko was rather enjoying bouncing on the bed with his brother, it wasn't something they did all the time. He was always busy looking after Wakko all day long, and that could be frustrating at times.
Most of all, he was glad that his brother was having equally as much fun, his tongue was bouncing up and down as he was.
"Weeeeee", the little boy shouted as he jumped up and down.
They continued to bounce on the bed for a while, it felt good to get a break from everything and do something innocent for a change.
But soon, Yakko found himself feeling tired all of a sudden. He noticed he was panting, trying to gasp for breath.
Strange, he thought, that doesn't usually happen.
He was breathing loud and long, and it was starting to become irritating very fast. Wanting to rest, he decided to be best to take a short break.
"Let's stop for a second wak", he panted,"I feel tired".
They both did a small leap into the air, bouncing onto the bed. Yakko took deep breaths, he started to feel better.
"Fun", Wakko cheered," again, again"!!
"Not now", he said," why don't we go to the living room, I feel like sitting on the couch for a while".
"Me want bounce again"!!
"Sorry buddy, I just can't right now".
Wakko's face turned into a pout.
"Me get award", he whined," you promise"!!
"We bounced on the bed, I kept my promise. But now it's time to relax alright"?
"But me want bounce", his brother went on," me get award"!!
Yakko started becoming frustrated, he gave his brother what he wanted. He didn't know what more he could do for him.
"Well why don't you play with your blocks in the living room, that's always fun".
"No, me bounce".
He shrugged his shoulders, smirking at his annoyed sibling.
"Ok sib, either you play quietly with your blocks, or im putting you in your crib for a nap. It's your choice".
"Nooooo", Wakko hollard," me no want nap".
"Alright, you gonna stop whining"?
His brother nodded his head.
"And are you going to calm down"?
"I will", he muttered.
"Good to hear sib", Yakko said," and if you're good, then we can bounce later. Now how does that sound"?
"Yes yes, me bounce again, me bounce again"!!!
His brother started to get very excited, he could hardly get any words out.
Yakko rolled his eyes, knew that would get him.
"Alright, but you gotta be good for me ok".
"Me be good", Wakko said," me good so me can bounce"!!
"That's right", he replied," now come on, your blocks are waiting for you".
Together, he and Wakko slipped off the bed, running out of the bedroom, leaving the door open. Yakko sat down on the couch, his brother running to the corner on the other side of the room, where the bin of blocks was.
He realized that he had left the TV on, he looked to his left, noticing the bag of chips was still there. With all the excitement with Wakko, he had forgotten what he was doing before.
He sighed, looking over at Wakko, he saw that his brother was busy taking all the blocks out of the big blue bin, one by one. Finally, he could have peace and quiet without a little brother to bother him.
He slumped further into the green couch, he dug his hand into the bag of chips, pulling some out, he shoved them in his mouth. The same news program was one as before, at least he thought it was the same. Boring as usual, he hated the news, he found it to be a snorefest. Unfortunately, this was the only thing on TV at the moment, nothing remotely exciting at all.
As he munched on potato chips, he started pondering to himself.
Mom is right, he told himself, being a responsible big brother isn't hard at all. And while Wakko could be annoying at times, he adds excitement to my daily adventures.
Yakko continued to think about his brother, he really has made an impact on his daily life. At this point, he had no idea what life would be like without him.
If only mom and dad were home more often, he thought, I wish they were here to see how responsible I am.
While he enjoyed having the freedom to take care of himself, Yakko wished that his parents were more involved in his daily lifestyle. It would make the stress of taking care of Wakko a lot easier and a lot less stressful.
His mom had been there for him when he needed her most. She gave him good advice on responsibility, and looking after his brother. But he missed the days where she would hug and kiss him every night, and be there right by his side. His mom works at a small sandwich shop in the strip by their local Kmart, which wasn't too far away. She would occasionally bring home sandwiches for both him and Wakko, which was always a treat.
It was his dad which he missed the most, he's nothing like he used to be. It seems like his poor father is always sad all the time. True, he wasn't always sad, he would occasionally show the joyful side of him, but he wished he showed that side more.
He ruffled the bag of chips, he sighed.
I finished already!? Boy, mabey mom was right, It does seem I'm eating a lot more chips as of recently.
He crumpled the bag up into the ball, sliding off the couch. He knows there's another bag of chips somewhere in the pantry.
He went into the kitchen, throwing the crumpled bag into the trash. He opened a door to the pantry. He saw there were 2 unopened bags of Lays potato chips.
He thought back to what his mom had told him on saturday.
Come on Yakko, this is..I don't know..the third bag this week!!
I'm sorry mom, he had explained, but there was nothing else to eat.
She then proceeded to give him a small slap on the face.
That's not true, she fumed, we have stuff in the fridge for you to make yourself a sandwich. You can't just sit on the couch all day eating chips, that's not good for you.
He rolled his eyes, his mom made sandwiches for a living, why couldn't she make one for him every day? He asked her about this, which ended in him being sent to his room for the night.
Maybe she won't mind if I ate through just one more bag, he told himself, reaching for the bag on the shelf.
He pulled the bag of potato chips into his arms. Confident of what he was doing, he decided to go back to the living room to enjoy his snack.
Exiting the room, he saw something that made his jaw drop. He saw his brother climbing on the bars of his crib.
"Wakko NOOOO!!", he yelled dropping the bag of chips on the floor.
He ran to where his brother was, grabbing him, he pulled him tight. Wakko had a huge smile on his face.
"Fun fun", he chanted," me like that"!!
He set his enthusiastic brother down on the floor.
"Why did you do that", he yelled," you could've gotten hurt if you fell".
His brother's face changed to a sad one, it appeared as if he was about to burst into tears.
Oh no, don't cry now!!
Desperate to avoid a complete tantrum, he picked up Wakko from off the floor, snuggling him close to him.
"Please don't cry", Yakko soothed," I'm not mad, I was just scared, that's all".
"Me got hurt", his brother muttered quietly.
"No you aren't, and thank goodness. I can't imagine how mad mom would be if you were. I'd be grounded for a whole month".
Wakko looked at him with sad eyes.
"Don't be sad", he continued," I think it's about time for your nap. I'll clean up your blocks for you".
"Me don't wanna".
"Wakko", Yakko said, raising his voice.
"Fine", he replied, going into a pout.
It was only now when he realized that he should've put Wakko down for his afternoon nap much earlier, now he was cranky. He decided he was going to rest himself afterwards, he started to feel awfully tired all of a sudden.
"Yakko, come here right now"!!
He perked up from his bed, he didn't know how long he'd been napping for. It sounded like his dad was yelling for him, his heart shrank.
Uh oh, I think I know what I did.
Getting up from his bed, he exited his room. Peering out the door, he looked into the kitchen to see that no one was there. Strange, if dad was yelling at him for eating too much junk food then he should be in the kitchen right?
Yakko suddenly felt someone pull on his ear pulling him to his left. It terrified him, he screamed in pain.
"Get in here", he heard his father shout.
His dad finally let go, Yakko finally got a chance to breathe for a second. He looked at his dad, still in work clothes, hands on his hips, red in the face.
He pointed at the bed.
"Did you come into my room and jump on my bed!?", he yelled in his face.
He gulped, he didn't know what to say. He felt like he was going to cry.
"Um, well….you see, I had to find a way to make Wakko eat his applesauce so..".
"So you jumped on my bed", His dad interrupted," are you crazy, you know you're not supposed to come in here. If you wanted to jump on a bed, why didn't you do it in your room"!?
Oh, why didn't I think of that?
"I..I..I'm sorry dad".
"You should be", the man continued," do you know how hard me and your mother work so you have a place to live"!?
"Yes sir", he muttered.
"Well if you did, then you wouldn't have messed up our bed on purpose, now wouldn't you"?
He was in pure shock, he was reminded how much he hated being in trouble.
"I….I didn't mean to make you upset dad".
"Bullshit you didn't mean to, you did this on purpose".
"I'm sorry, I didn't know", he remarked.
His father slapped him in the face, he seemed to do it harder than he usually did.
"Go to your room", he demanded," just wait till your mother hears about this"!!!
Without any hesitation, he immediately ran straight to his room, quickly closing the door behind him. He hopped onto his bed, putting his face into his pillow. He sobbed to himself, what was wrong with him?
End of Chapter 10