Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Thankful Thursday--Sibling Relationships

Well, time for another Thankful Thursday post. I've been grateful for these posts this week, as I've had to remind myself many times that there is much for which to be thankful. I am going to focus on Evelyn this week.

She is our energetic, loving, "wild" child! As many of you know, when a child has energy, that energy must be focused. Focusing is not a strong point of Evelyn's in any situation. So this week has been focused on trying to get her to focus!

All that said, I could never ask for a more loving, caring child than Evelyn. She is the first one to come running with band-aids and peroxide when anybody is hurt. She's the first to bring toys or to give out hugs when another sibling has been hurt physically or emotionally. But, during Ryan's trip to SC with Evelyn, we realized how deep the love between siblings runs.

During the first plane trip down, Evelyn was reading her books. Ryan overheard her say, "James, I wish you were here. I miss you." When we, as parents, often listen to their bickering, we begin to wonder if truly love each other. Ryan allowed her to call James when they arrived in SC. We laughed because they sounded like two lovers that had been separated for a long time! After they got off the phone, James told me that he wished that Evelyn would hurry up and come home because he missed her.

James and Evelyn each have other friends, but we really try to encourage the relationship between siblings. If that relationship is not solid, we discourage getting together with friends until the sibling relationship is mended. Evelyn is the first to forgive when someone's offended her, the first to initiate hugs and kisses and the first to dive back into playing or functioning as usual. This is even true when we, as parents, need to apologize to her.

So, while it's so easy to focus on the areas that need to be trained (there will always be those areas), join me in focusing on the positive traits that your children exhibit. I don't think it's easy to forgive when I've been wronged, and I hope to continue to encourage Evelyn to be quick to love and forgive and not to hold a grudge.

Related:Elizabeth posted last week on the blessing of friendship between her two boys. I thought it was quite special.

1 comment:

The Coffee Press said...

Great post Dovey! We're always reminding Marshall and Shaylen that they are each other's best friends.