I have two children, three years apart in age, who love and adore each other beyond measure. While I have no intention of leaving this Earth anytime soon without verbally imparting the below to them repeatedly over the years, I want it memorialized for all time – on the internet.
To my children,
I pray you will always love and adore each other the way you do now. I watch your faces light up when you see each other first thing in the morning, once you reunite at the end of the “school” day when picked up at daycare, and I hope you know how wonderful it makes me feel to see your smiles and how you dote on each other. One day, when you are older, I will tell you the story of how you came to be. How hard your dad and I tried to start a family before you both came to be.
My little man, I love how protective you are of your sister. How you cheer her on when she is mastering something new. I melt every time you ask where lil sista is if she is at daycare and you aren’t, and how much you want her to be with you all the time. I love that you want to have matching jammies with your baby sister all the time. I laugh at how authoritatively you, lil sista, will walk right into your brother’s room and plop yourself in the middle of his toys to play with him. I pray you will continue to be each other’s biggest cheerleaders and most fervent supporters throughout life.
Some practical advice for the next few years…
Help each other clean up. Don’t be selfish with toys and games. Teach each other what you know. I know this will be one-sided for years as big brother will teach little sister how to blow bubbles, kick a soccer ball, make a basket on the Little Tikes basketball goal, pedal a bike, tie her shoes, and make her bed. But I know that lil sista will, in time, impart her own wisdom to her big brother. She’s got that kind of personality.
And when you are grown…
I want you to know that your sibling is the first person you can call with good or bad news. Or just to say Hi and I miss you. Don’t ever feel like you are bothering your sibling by simply reaching out. I imagine you helping each other move into dorms, apartments, and homes. Celebrating graduations, job offers, birthdays, and countless other events with each other throughout life and both standing for each other at your weddings. I pray you are best friends with each other’s spouses and like second parents to each other’s children. I pray you share your childhood memories with each other and your families.
Above all…
I want you to rely on one another, love and support one another and never let disagreements get in the way of such a wonderful, unique relationship.
