Siblings

Sunday afternoon, I needed a bit of rest. J was off seeing a patient he had operated on the night before, so I laid L down, read to H and Ek and told them they needed to play quietly in their rooms for a bit while I rested. They played a long time in their rooms and I didn't hear much of a peep in the monitor. Then L woke up and climbed out of her bed (I now keep the side rail down so she can, I didn't think it was quite fair to have a potty trained toddler stuck in her bed, so now she can safely climb out when she wakes up so she can "go."). I could hear most all of what they were saying and unfortunately, they were not talking very nice (details are not important), so Ek and H were sent to their rooms for an hour by themselves for the first time in their lives. After an hour I went to talk to Ek about the responsibility and privilege of being "first" and oldest in our family. I asked her what she thought was the biggest benefit of being oldest. She said with a bit of hesitation that "sometimes I get the first piece of cake?" Ok. I reminded her that she was the first to go to school, the first to take dance, and the first to turn 6. She will also be the first to turn 16 one day and be the first to drive. But I told her with that comes the big responsibility of helping her brother and sister learn to talk and act. She had just joined in their talk instead of encouraging them to stop. And we needed her to help them make great choices. She came downstairs a new girl. She wanted to help and took our conversation so seriously. She and L went to work and unloaded the entire dishwasher. Now that was not what I was looking for in the conversation but I didn't object. And I loved how she was talking to L, she was saying things like, "No L, that fork doesn't go there, see the size of these, the smaller one goes here." It was so adorable and so sweet. It was so fun to see her teaching her little sister. Meanwhile J had a big talk with H about being the only boy and what responsibilities come along with that, he has been so great with his sisters too. He and L will play and play and laugh and laugh. I just hope they that they can be close and playful and helpful and encouraging to each other.