Exercising Care Between Siblings
Vai was feverish the other day.
For one whole day he was totally unlike himself.
He said his head felt ‘heavy’.
He was totally quiet and stayed in bed.
I was about to give him some cool wipes across his face and arms when I thought to myself, perhaps I should let the big sister do it instead.
…
Note:
You see, Anya and Vai have this 2.5-year age gap.
They laugh, play and get silly together, but they also bicker, disagree and get on each other’s nerves a lot (more like, the big sister feels the little brother is out to irritate her a lot =)
At first, she was reluctant when I asked her to wipe her sleeping little brother’s face and arms.
‘Why don’t you do it, Mommy?’
‘Vai is feeling sick today. He can’t even stand and walk properly. It’ll be nice if you show him some care and help Mommy at the same time? While you do the compresses on his face and arms, I can go ahead and feed Brie some lunch. It’ll be like you’re the nurse and Vai is the patient too.’
(They like to play doctor and patient role plays lately =)
She thought about it for a few seconds.
Then she took the cloth from me and sat next to Vai.
Apparently this little guy wasn’t completely sleeping.
And he smiled away as he saw his sister wiped his arms and face.
Cheeky little guy!
Anyway.
I hope as these two siblings grow up together in our family, they learn to not just play together, but also care for one another.
Because such ‘I-want-to-care-for-my-brother-or-sister thought’ may not always come naturally, … which to me, makes it even more necessary to encourage simple acts of caring and loving.
Whenever such times and opportunities arise.
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Sooo sweet! You have great kids & it’s cos u have done such a great job raising them 🙂
nice one! my gal and boy also love to play dr and patient. they even played kitchen set together. no doubt there are disagreements at times and even pushing one another off to occupy the seat but I am sure you will agree that the more they bicker/disagree (healthy range), they are saying out their displeasure and the other party will know too. Just like what a couple will do. 🙂 It helps to train their communication and what to do when there is disagreement. Especially when they are out of home and learn how to stand up for themselves if faced with such a circumstance in school.
However, the way you teach Anya to care for Vai, it’s definitely reminding her that she is the eldest and needs to take care of her siblings. Learning the responsibility will help her (maybe during reflection time) to bicker less with her siblings but care for them more. It has to be nurtured over a period of time.
I did the same to my girls,especially when I cannot take leave from my work …and told the well one to update me the situation via SMS….:-)
Hi Linda,
That’s a nice idea! Updates through sms! =)
awwww… that’s sweet!
Hi Maureen!
Thanks … and thanks for dropping by! =)
So sweet
Thanks Abby =)