I fell head over heels for each of my children instantly. When my son met his baby sister for the first time, he stroked her downy soft hair and vowed to always take care of her.
Sure, they may tease and squabble and possibly bite leaving behind little teeth marks, but mostly they are faithful friends.
I thought I couldn’t possibly love them more until the day when the ambulance came. My youngest needed help and my oldest child, blurred out of sight, was brought back into focus with the words, “Mummy, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. Just please, please let her be okay.”
Standing with his back pressed firmly against the wall out of the way of the paramedics, I warned him about the mad rush of people who would be coming any minute, and cautioned him to stay out of their way. He was holding his sister’s pink bear, which he later handed me to bring along to the hospital. I knew in that moment, that he loves his sister as much as I love them both, and my heart ached under the weight of that realization.
My son has loved his sister from the moment he laid his baby browns on hers. Years later, he still lavishes attention and cuddles on her. “She’s SO CUTE!” he’ll say with such enthusiasm it makes me smile.
She follows him everywhere. It can be frustrating to have a permanent shadow, and at times he asks for a break. But mostly, he includes her and they speak a language that only siblings do.
I hear their conversations; his patient tone while she attempts in her way to communicate. I wonder if she’ll learn to talk the way her peers do and it never hurts any less when she (or her brother) are teased because of her developmental delays. I am grateful she has her brother to protect and love her.
He teaches her about LEGO and dinosaurs and how to shoot a basketball.
She teaches him patience, compassion and acceptance.
They teach me how resilient and how kind-hearted people can be.
As I peek into my daughter’s flowery bedroom, I see my son has snuck into his sister’s bed, and is now fast asleep with a blonde curly mop of hair tucked into the crook of his neck, and I know that no matter what the future holds, they have each other.
Originally posted on todaysparent. com
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