Ross and Mary Mayer's first son was named Phillip and they loved him with all their hearts, each in their own way. Mary was with him day and night, responding immediately to his every need and wish. Ross was busy attending to the workings of his various business interests and provided the money for whatever Mary or Phillip asked for. Phillip had all of Mary's attention except for when Ross was with them. Phillip would cry loudly with anger when he sensed that he was not the center of Mary's world. When Mary was preparing a meal, Phillip would howl until she picked him up. Phillip would not let Mary do anything other than hold him with her smiling eyes on his face. Mary asked Ross for a helper and quickly had one. Phillip would have nothing to do with the helper but the helper was invaluable to Mary because this was the only way meals could be prepared and necessary housework done. Phillip would start crying as soon as Ross was around them and wouldn't stop until Ross was gone. The parents came to accept this as part of an infant's growing up. This demand on Mary's exclusivity continued in various forms until Phillip was a married adult and it was a basic that came to be taken for granted in the family's politics. Fortunately it never became a strain on the relationship of Ross and Mary. They never realized there could a better strategy for raising a child or that their own moments of quality time together did not have to be only when Phillip was sound asleep. Mary was never able to return to working in the bakery, helping her mother, not even with Phillip in tow. Mary's mother thought Mary and Ross were over-indulgent with Phillip, though she never told anyone this. Phillip seemed to have a sixth sense about his grandmother's attitude and never liked her. There was never any thought of spoiling the boy, the way things were was natural because he was the center of the family, its ruling force, biological heir to Ross's company.
As Phillip grew older and refused to do anything he did not want to, it was taken to show strength of character, although secretly Ross began to have misgivings, knowing that success as Ross defined it required self-sacrifice, giving up pleasure in the short term in favour of long term reward. Phillip developed a suspicion of his father. They were very different in temperament. Ross was kind, patient, putting others first, saw the positive side of events and was a happy man who took well-deserved, healthy pride in his accomplishments. Phillip was increasingly angry with increasing frequency and intensity. By the time he was school age, it was only Mary who wanted to be around him. When he was taken to school, Phillip did not make friends, seeking to dominate the others such that he couldn't fit in as one of the group. He hated being an outsider, the single individual pushed out of the intact group sacrificed for the sake of group integrity. He wanted to be the idol of the group, the single individual adored by the others obedient to his wish and command.
Ross and Mary's second son, Michael, was born when Phillip was five and on this event, Phillip refused to return to school at all and continued to expect and demand all of Mary's attention. A second mother's helper was hired and the two helpers looked after Michael in addition to doing the cooking and housework. One of the helpers had discovered Phillip trying to strangle baby Michael while he lay sleeping in his crib. She quickly intervened but didn't have the heart to warn Mary. Since then, the helpers watched Michael with great diligence, understanding that Phillip was not done with him. Michael, of course, knew who his parents were although they had nearly no time for him. and he grew very close to the loving helpers who took on all the parenting roles. A succession of tutors was enlisted to teach Phillip in an attempt to ensure that he got the same education school-going children would, but he had no discipline and no desire to learn. This lack of having anything that was absolutely required of him such as tasks he had to do without avoidance, gradually was the cause of a certain boredom that characterized Phillip adding to his self-righteous nastiness. Michael went to school and enjoyed it, making friends and developing great interest in reading everything he could. Michael had a passion for work and spent time each day chopping wood destined to be burned in the household stoves, building piles of logs and filling boxes of kindling dry and ready for use. This caught Ross's attention and he was glad to see that Michael had personality traits and skills that would be most useful in business and adult life in general. Michael too would have a place working for Ross, but not as heir to his kingdom, as that was just not the way things were done.
