Being a big brother is a big responsibility. I was the oldest of four children so I know the burden that can be. I frequently share with my oldest boys the importance of their own example to their younger siblings, of their need to contribute to the responsibilities of the home and most importantly, how to love the little ones. It’s not easy to do, but through it all comes maturity, patience and gentleness for young children.
In my experience, I’ve found that when you have subsequent children, the most commonly asked question is this…”is the youngest child jealous of the new baby”. Truthfully, I’ve never had that problem with my first two boys. They were genuinely excited and happy when the new baby arrived. Then again, the first three were all three years apart. This is the first time I’ve had children so close together (2 years apart). So I wondered (and mostly feared) how Austin would react when Evan came along.
To my delighted surprise, he has been the MOST loving, the MOST thoughtful and the MOST concerned for the baby! I am so blessed with wonderful children. Sure it’s difficult for him to learn to wait for Mommy and it’s a hard lesson to realize you can’t have what you want when you want it, but, he deeply loves his little brother.
He wants to help at every turn and is the first to let us know when the baby is crying. Sometimes, it’s the first thing he asks when he wakes in the morning is “Bebe?” Meaning, where is the baby?
All that to say, our 2 year old is genuinely enjoying being a new big brother!
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