Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Brother and Sister

I spent most of my childhood as an only child.  Of course, the grass is always greener, so I always wanted a brother or sister to play with, complain to and of course torture.  This past desire is one of the reasons I was so thrilled when we knew Aiden would have a little sister.  Along with my excitement came an overwhelming worry that they wouldn't really like each other.  I'd seen so many pictures of kids with their baby brothers or sisters and how they were best friends and played so well together.  What if ours weren't like that?  Aiden is only 18 months older than Audrey, so I knew the transition would be tough on him.  I vowed from the beginning to be patient and let them learn to be siblings in their own time.


This has turned out to be a necessary approach.  Aiden has needed time to get used to his little sister.  He's had to learn to share his toys, and more challenging, Mommy and Daddy's attention.  We've done the best we can, but it's been difficult and there have been times that I thought they would never mesh.  Aiden can be physical with Audrey, pushing her and pulling on her.  He often tells me to put her down, so that I can hold him.  I know this is all very normal, but it's still not easy.


Recently, I've seen a shift, especially in Aiden.  I'm not sure if something happened, if he's growing up or if time has just started to do the trick but Aiden actually seems to want Audrey around.  He asks her to come play with him.  He brings her a blanket and covers her up.  He asks if she needs her diaper changed (now if he'd learn to change it!).  And one glorious day, when Audrey woke up from her nap and Andrew was working in the basement and I was sick and napping, Aiden went in and played with Audrey for 30 whole minutes!  He put toys in her crib and their chatter woke me up.  In fact, it was Aiden saying, "I love you Audrey," that made me open my eyes.  And then of course they shed a few tears.



I know they will fight and at times will hate each other.  I know we will be playing referee with them for many many years to come.  But they love each other, I can see that now.  And what more could a parent want?


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