Watching my children interact with each other is both beautiful and irritating. My daughter is on the verge of being four and my son is a very strong 18 month old.
When is it irritating? It's irritating when one wants to do whatever the other is doing and there's only ONE of that particular toy/book/block/whatever. Always a recipe for some sort of altercation -- generally kicking or hitting. It's irritating when my daughter throws items into her room because "It's my FAVORITE...." I know it's because she'd rather not have her little brother touch what she considers to be HERS. It's irritating when I'm working on the computer and they clamor onto my neatly made bed and toss all the blankets, pillows, and sheets off. It's irritating when they both want me to hold them at the same time. It's irritating when I've set down art supplies for them both and they want to draw on the SAME area of paper. It doesn't matter if I've given them separate sheets of paper or if I've put brown wrap that's about 2 ft x 2ft on the floor.
When is it beautiful? It's beautiful when I see them run to each other and hug so tightly that they loose their balance. Then I can hear my daughter trying to fall just so saying "I've got you. I've got you" to her baby brother and making sure he doesn't bump his head. It's beautiful when I watch them screaming like banshees while they run back and forth from the front door to the far bathroom doorway with HUGE smiles on their faces. It's their version of bump-n-chase. It's beautiful when we leave the house and my daughter holds my son's hand and they walk together to the edge of the parking area. It's beautiful when my son falls down my daughter will sometimes run to him and help him up and hug him and say "You're okay, you're okay" It's beautiful when we're in the car and I hand a snack bag to my daughter and she hands my son some if he reaches out to her. It's beautiful when they wrestle on the floor with each other giggling hysterically. It's beautiful when my daughter blows soap bubbles outside so that my son can chase and pop them. It's beautiful when she runs around looking for his sippy when she hears him coughing. It's beautiful when I'm busy and I tell her to check if her brother has a poopy diaper and she grabs him and sniffs his bottom!!!
I have to remind myself that I can't intervene each time the two are interacting with each other. They have to find their own balance in their relationship. But it's difficult when they grunt or cry at each other in frustration. When they start swinging or kicking at each other too. Oy! I guess I also have to find the balance as to when to come between them. Find the balance...find the balance....
No comments:
Post a Comment