Sibling Love

One of my most favorite things about being a mom is observing the relationship between Jake and Natalie. Yes, they do fight (sometimes it seems like that's all they do!) but there is a lot of love between the two of them as well. A couple of scenarios come to mind...


We were at McDonald's one day having lunch. (Those of you familiar with my family know this could be any given day of the week!) I was chatting away with my friends Ashley and Cher when a woman came running up to our table.
"Excuse me," she said, in a very concerned voice. "Does the little boy in red belong to any of you?"
"Yes," I replied. "He's my son."
"Well," the woman said, looking even more serious, "he just shoved that little girl in the blue shirt."

Now, I know Jake. He's not perfect by any means, but he doesn't typically go around shoving random people. Sure enough, I glanced towards the play area and saw my little Natalie, dressed in blue, lying on the floor giving her best "Jakey pushed me" cry.


"Oh, it's okay," I heard myself saying. "She's his sister."


Now here's the strange part, the part that explains the uniqueness of sibling relationships everywhere. The woman, who had been terribly concerned just a moment before about this poor defenseless little girl in blue, was now smiling. "Oh, I understand!" Then she laughed and said as she saw Natalie coming towards us "Oh look, here she comes now, ready to get some sympathy."

If this situation had been any different, if Natalie had been pushed by another child, or if Jake had pushed a child that wasn't his sister, all eyes in that McDonald's would have been on me, waiting to see if I was a mommy who meant business when it comes to discipline. However, since it simply involved a brother and a sister, it became a mere source of amusement for those who witnessed it. Funny how that works. And before you feel too sorry for Nat, she instigates more than her fair share of conflict!


I realize that's not the most heartwarming story, but I do have something to report that is much more touching. Today was unseasonably warm, but very windy. (As bold as my little girl is, there are two things that frighten her: thunder-'shunder'- and wind.) Jake and Natalie wanted to play outside, so they opened the front door and decided to wait on the front porch while I got my shoes on. As I rounded the corner from the kitchen to the door, I glanced at the open doorway and treated to one of the sweetest sights I have ever seen. Jake was hugging Natalie very tightly, looking up at the sky and speaking to her in a very soothing tone. Nick said to me, "Do you see that? Nat was scared of the wind and so Jake is holding her." I stood there watching and wishing desperately that I had a camera handy. It was such a beautiful brother/sister moment.


I'm incredibly grateful to God for the gift of my two children. I hope and pray they will be lifelong friends. It looks like they are off to a pretty good start.

Christmas Preparations

Last weekend we put up our Christmas tree. Jake was very eager to help out with the ornaments, so Nick and I told him he could hang a few. Well, he took his job very seriously and refused to let us do any of it! It was so precious seeing how determined and excited he was to decorate our tree. Here he is, hard at work...

Of course, the finished product looks a little different from previous years. The bottom of the tree is heavy with carefully placed ornaments, while the top 2/3 of the tree is completely bare. Though we commented under our breath about doing some "rearranging" while Jake was busy working on the tree, it has been a week now and the tree is exactly the way Jake left it. You know what? We don't want to change a thing. I think our Christmas tree, decorated eagerly by sweet Jake, is the most beautiful one we've ever had.