She likes to "share" with him. I think she figures he's a great person to practice sharing skills on, since he has no interest whatsoever in her toys, and she can take back an item whenever she wants it. She'll bring a toy car to him and place it on him, saying, "I'm sharing, Mommy!" As long as the car isn't, say, being driven on his face, he's okay with it.
I'm constantly trying to strike a balance between encouraging her when she's kind to him, and making sure she doesn't dislocate any of his little limbs, or crush his soft spot. It requires lots of "Mommy finesse". If toddlerhood or infanthood lasted longer than they do, the life span of mothers would be drastically reduced due to stress alone.
Yesterday we'd given away some gifts to little kiddos from church who'd had birthday parties that we'd missed. So Chickie had presents on her mind. When she saw Zoodle in his bouncy/rocking seat, she brought her baby doll over to him. Our conversation went something like this:
Chickie: I'm giving him a present, Mommy!
Me: Oh, be careful, Chickie! Oh, that's so nice! Are you sharing?
Chickie: I'm giving him a present!
Me: You're giving him a present? That's so nice, Chickie! Make sure you're being gentle!
Chickie: I'm going to unwrap it. (She starts trying to pull off the baby's little outfit.)
Me: Oh, you're unwrapping it? (She quickly gives up on the "unwrapping" and moves on.)
Chickie: The baby needs to be next to him!
Me: Oh, Chickie, that's very sweet! (She picks up the baby and not-so-gently places it on Zoodle's face. Zoodle obligingly cries.) Oh, Chickie, that wasn't nice! You aren't being gentle! You hurt him!
And so it goes. Zoodle wins some, and he loses some--often both within the space of a minute or so.
This morning he was back in that bouncy seat. He was getting fussy, but I couldn't pick him up, as I was cooking on the stove. Chickie took it upon herself to comfort him. She gently (hooray!) touched his hair and his body, and then she started talking to him.
Recently Chickie's been waking up scared. One way I soothe her is telling her, "Jesus is right here with you."
So she, in a sweet, comforting voice, told Zoodle, "Jesus is right here you. Jesus is right here you."
That little girl--she makes this mama's heart melt.
2 comments:
She just made this mama's heart melt, too! Remind me to tell you about something "similar" that Beau says. Similar, yet quite different! ;)
Oh my goodness. These stories are just PRECIOUS. And I don't usually use that word without cringing. But seriously - that comforting thing? Wow! You should make sure to print these out and bind them for the kids. It's the stories of me interacting with my siblings that I love to hear the most.
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