Sibling Rivalry

For whatever reason my mother and aunt never seem to be able to get along. I've heard stories about them being that way since they were kids, and how even their rivalry was notorious to even the neighbors. It never fails, whereever we travel to or whatever we're doing (dinner, vacation, etc.) if their together, it will only take a matter of time for them to go at it.

One of the things that really got on my mothers nerves was the way my aunt would give her "advice" on raising children. Even though my aunt is married, she has no children, so this gets my mother upset. My aunt also loves to brag about how young she looks (she does look very well for her age), and how my mother needs to stop "stressing out so much" because she (my mother) looks like the "older sister". This really pisses my mother off, and if anything else didn't set her off, this would usually be the button to press.

I usually laugh at their arguments, because its always my mother that gets the most upset, and hurls really bad insults at my aunt. If I laugh enough, they eventually join in laughing and the argument -which is almost always over bullshit- is diffused. My mother is the youngest, and she tells me that my aunt was always jealous of her for being her mother's favorite. I can sort of see that in a way, but I still think she overreacts over nothing.