Having a 5 year gap between siblings can be challenging. I worried when we found out that we were having a boy. A boy? Oh goodness how would my eldest react to a boy? Wouldn't another girl be easier? And yet, once that initial bout of jealousy subsided things have developed into something really neat between them. Don't get me wrong, they do fight about toys. He wants everything she has and she does lose her cool sometimes. She is only 6, after all. But then we have all these other moments to witness that are so cute. He will hug her out of the blue, at least once a day. I'm talking the big bear hug kind of hug. And she loves it. He will come over and sit down on her lap, just because. And she loves it. It is so clear to us that he simply adores her. I try to build on this as much as I can and I tell them that they are best friends for life. They will always have each other. There is no ME, or YOU. There is WE. She will read him stories at night when he battles bedtime and won't settle down for us. Sometimes, she even makes up stories for him. It's usually a version of "The Three Little Pigs". When he comes back from daycare with a scratch, she will interrogate him in the car trying to get the name of the kid who scratched him. Too bad he's just starting to get his words out. She keeps an eye on him when they play, most of the time, and will give him good sisterly advice when he goes off on one of his crazy tangents. Most of the time he ignores her advice but she keeps trying.
It is crazy to juggle it all these days. With two working parents in the house and no extended support system, some weeks we just have to work a lot of magic to make things happen. Those times, I just think back to these moments and I get the energy I need to power on and be the Mother they deserve to have.
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