Brother & Sister's Keeper

Interesting observation... I didn't grow up with any brothers and Rey, my husband, didn't grow up with any sisters. Now that we have a son and a daughter we are learning about the dynamics between brothers and sisters. In a way I'm learning what it's like to have a brother and Rey is learning what it's like to have a sister. It's really funny because we are learning as we go. We don't know how girls should react to boys in certain situations or the other way around. We're just using our own common sense.

For example, we stopped letting them take a bath together about a year or so ago. We don't want to give them issues, but at the same time we don't know how old they should be before they need to cover up. Right now they are still so young and innocent. We figure that nature will take its course and they will start covering up when the need arises.

Then there's the fighting and the teasing. All I can say is thank goodness my daughter is older because if my son were older he would be a bully. Even though he teases and hits she's still old enough to check him sometimes and she has the advantage of being a tall girl. She doesn't like to hit him, and we don't encourage fighting, but sometimes she has to put her foot down with him and my husband and I have to use our best judgement on how to handle the situation.

I really try to encourage them to love one another. I remind them that their daddy and I may be gone one day and they will have each other. I tell them that they are going to dance with each other at their wedding. Or I tell them that they will always have a dance partner at weddings and parties as they grow up. I want for them to be close and I hope that they are. They can play together for hours and I love to hear them when they are playing and not fighting. They are both such alpha personalities. They are born leaders and sometimes that gets challenging.

I think they are how their dad and I would have been if we played together as children. And that's a nice thought because we very possibly did play together a couple of times but we don't remember. My older sister lived next door to Rey and his family when we were around 3 or 4 and she says we met.

So we go on raising our children to love each other and to play fair and we are learning more about boys and girls in the process and maybe we can learn more about each other.