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Friday, August 3, 2007

The Kindness of a Sibling

My kids,
like any,
tend to run
hot and cold.

The boys tend to play more together
and share more interests
and Kate does more of her own thing
while flitting in and out with them.

Trey absolutely worships his older brother.
It is inconceivable to Trey that Chris
would want anything to do with anyone
other than him.

So, today Chris was invited to a playdate
with a friend.

Trey. Is. Crushed.

Silent tears slid down his cheeks as we pulled away.
He had tried every form of trickery he could
to get himself invited
but I was having none of it-
Chris needs his own time and space.

But poor Trey.

His sadness was palpable
and very, very real.

In a flash of heart and true empathy,
Kate grabbed paper and pen
while we were in the van
and jotted something down.

Then, she pretended to catch
the paper from the open window
as we were driving along.

"TREY! TREY!! LOOK!"
she shouted!

"It is addressed to you!!"

She read it aloud to Trey,
who began to smile as he discovered
that Kate had found an invitation for him
to join a secret friend on the trampoline.

On the short drive home,
Kate has hatched a plan
including a picnic,
trampoline time
and making birth certificates
for his stuffed animals.

My heart swells with pride
in moments such as these.

2 comments:

Heather said...

It should - what amazing kids! Kate is the big sister every sibling wants. Spencer and Owen are like your boys, but it is usually Spencer(the eldest)that is trying to finagle an invitation for his brother. We have had many playdate tears which is part of th reason we host so many of those (awful) things.
Heather

Lori ~ The Simple Life at Home said...

That's so wonderful, Leeann. She's an amazing girl! You've raised her well.