a moment

Just like all mothers who have more than one child, I try to instill cooperation, friendship, and just plain being nice to each other. There are times when Alex and Anna play great together and that is the best feeling in the world! However, there are also many moments of tattling, bickering, and rivalry over the smallest things. I struggle with how much to intervene because I know that in order to have an authentic relationship, it is important to let them work things out on their own as much as possible.

Yesterday, Alex and Anna had "a moment." The best thing about it was that it happened without any help from Joe or I. Let me explain.....With the holiday season officially upon us, we have enjoyed listening to Christmas music on the radio. It is amazing how just the thought of Christmas approaching can create such happy energy with little ones. Anyway...one night as I was tucking Anna into her bed for the night, she told me that she was scared and she wanted the light on. When I asked her what was wrong, she said " I am scared of Mr. Grinch." This confession resulted in an outpouring of tears. After much reassurance that we would turn the radio off if the grinch song came on, Anna calmed down and fell asleep. ( with the light on.)

In the days following, we had many discussions about Mr. Grinch. Inparticular Alex often asked " Anna are you still scared of the grinch?" To which she always said an adament "YES!" To make a long story short, we had some friends come over for awhile yesterday. Not knowing Anna's deep fear, they brought a certain movie with them. At first, Anna didn't even want to be in the same room as the case. After much discussion, it was decided that the movie would be played upstairs, and that I would stay with Anna in the playroom until it was over.

Well....after everyone was set up, Anna told me she needed to get something upstairs. When she didn't come down after awhile, I went up to investigate. Imagine my shock when I saw Anna sitting right next to Alex. She told me that she was going to try to watch the movie, and that her and Alex decided to hold hands in case she got scared. Of course it completely melted me. It also reinforced the fact that brothers and sisters may fight like cats and dogs at times...but in the end, they stick together when it counts.