I’ve mentioned here before my concerns about Symphony’s feelings amidst this whole baby thing. Becoming a big sister after eleven years of being an only child has to be a big change, and one I didn’t have experience with- I’m the fifth of seven kids. I tried looking for resources on how to help her deal with the change, but they don’t really seem to exist. Almost everything I found on introducing a new baby to your existing kids is geared towards toddlers, and the ones for older children are for kindergarteners. Tweens have feelings too though, and I’ve been concerned. I often ask Sym how she feels about having a little sister, how things are, if she likes the baby, if she feels left out. I think I ask her these things so much that what she probably feels is annoyed.
Last night though, I got my answer. Gwen was sleeping so I left Sym in charge of the baby monitor and went out to run a couple of errands (groceries, post office, buying bags and bags of candy). I told her if Gwen was fussy she could wake Taylor up, but that she probably wouldn’t need too. When I got home, Sym came running out of her room, asked “Do you wanna see something cute?” and told me to follow her. When I got to her room this is what I saw:
(sorry for the poor quality, like the rest of our basement apartment, Sym’s room is very low light)
Gwen had woken up, but instead of fetching Taylor, Sym moved Gwen’s swing into her bedroom for a sister hang out! She asked me if Gwen could stay in her room, to which I of course said yes. Later I went to check on them again and I found Sym had brought Gwen up into her bed. They were cuddled together watching cartoons on Netflix and holding hands.
I swear, my heart LITERALLY melted out of my body when I saw them together. I’m happy that Sym loves her little sister so much, and I’m excited to watch their sister bond develop. I know they are far apart in age (when Gwen is the age Sym is now, Sym will be TWENTY-TWO. The mind boggles) but I hope they can still be close.
I AM CRYING TEARS OF SISTERLY LOVE OMG.
OH THE LOVE.
😀 😀 how perfect!!
Oh wow, i felt my eyes well up. Those pictures are so cute. Also, my brother and i are 13 years apart and it’s cool! I helped take care of him a LOT, I actually think that experience helped me a lot when I had a kid of my own. I have been told that I tread Urs like a 2nd child, wonder why!
This is so sweet!
sym is the perfect person
My daughters are 10 years apart (Matilda, 3, & Chloe, 13) and have different fathers (I’m happily married to the younger daughter’s father). I, too, was worried about how Chloe would react when Tilly was born and I was always pestering her with questions about how she felt about it, etc. I learned quickly to just let her lead her involvement in the whole baby thing. Sometimes she wants to hang out with us while we do little kid stuff, sometimes she just wants to sit on the couch and read while we do little kid stuff, and sometimes she just wants to go into her room to do her own thing, and all of those things are alright. I made sure at least once a day that when Tilly was sleeping, even if I was tired, I needed to do something with Chloe. Help her with her homework, play a board game, or even just watch T.V. together. Or, if my husband’s home from work, sometimes we’ll go somewhere just Chloe and me, like an errand that she’s actually interested in (the mall or Michael’s). Everything has worked out great. She loves her little sister so much and she knows that although things are different, they’re still good.
I usually let Sym do her own thing and try to spend time with her separate from the baby as well. It was just so nice to see her make the decision to spend time with her baby sister!
I AM DYING. I CAN’T HANDLE HOW CUTE THIS IS.
i just cried. two tears
This is beyond adorable 🙂
Wow, this is so sweet 🙂 Sym is such an awesome kid.
I know Sym isn’t demonstrative (hereditary!) but I saw her face while she watched Gwen being born. She has always loved her and always will!
this is so touching! Sym is a good person, you can tell. My sister and i are 7 years apart and it always felt like she hated me, she never wanted to have anything to do with me, when she was in charge of me would just stay in her room and lock the door and would call me a brat all the time so, every situation is different! LOL but you can tell Sym is a great sister already i got tears in my eyes