Why I Love Them

Yesterday at the park, Sam fell in the woods and came out crying.  Danny went right for him and hugged him several times to help him feel better.

This morning, Danny started to cry his eyes out when my Mom was putting him in the car to go with her for the day.  Sam immediately went over there to give him a hug and try to help him feel better.

Tonight, Danny cried when I took him in his room for bedtime.  He didn't want to go, he wanted to watch more Caillou.  After a minute or two of him crying, Sam came up to the door and said "Mommy?"  I asked what, he knows that it can make it take longer for me to put Danny to bed if he comes and talks to me.  But he answered "Sorry for interrupting.  I think Danny is crying because he wants a blanket!"  It was just so... nice.

When I got pregnant with Danny and realized my children would be four full years apart, I was unsure about the age difference.  I thought that four years was a pretty big gap, that they wouldn't play together that much or that maybe they wouldn't be as close.

Sam is such a good big brother.  He tries to help Danny out, to get things for him, to make him feel better.  They chase each other and laugh.  The only reason that Danny went and hugged Sam when he got hurt yesterday is because he learned it from his big brother.  Every kid has their quirks, but Sam is one of the nicest kids I know.  Because of him, Danny will also learn how to be a nice boy and to treat other people nicely.  I am so proud of him.

Watching them be brothers just makes my heart so big I think it might burst.  For every little squabble or fight over a toy, there is another time when Sam hold Danny's hand or helps him reach a toy or when they laugh and jump on the bed or run around the park together.

There are days when I feel like I am failing.  I snap or I yell, I don't have the patience I wish I did.  But when I see them together, caring so much for each other?  I realize that I must be doing SOMETHING right.  I always knew that watching siblings together is an amazing thing.  I knew, but I didn't KNOW.  Now, I do, and it's just about the best thing ever.