A Moment of Gratitude
...to Jonah.
Ruth's having some trouble adjusting to someone else being "the baby". She's very friendly to Benjamin and wants to shower him with kisses all the time, but she's fragile and very quick to tears these past few days.
Jonah, on the other hand, is really shining. He appears to be drawing on a reserve of patience I never knew he had. He's tolerating Ruthie's obnoxious behavior without whacking her, even when she richly deserves it. When she begins to annoy him, he asks for help ("May Ruthie leave me alone, please?"). If I didn't know better, I would swear he's going out of his way to play with her more interactively.
He even tries to keep her out of trouble. Last night, after she smart-talked me for the umpteenth time, I told Ruth that she was not allowed to speak -at all- until bath time (about 15 minutes). I left the two of them in their room while I went downstairs to fetch something. As I re-ascended the stairs, I could hear Ruth and Jonah talking in low conspiratorial tones. I got angry and was preparing to scold her, but just as I turned the corner to enter the room, Jonah whirled to Ruthie and pressed his fingers to his lips and said "SHHHHHHH!" I decided to let it slide. One of the ways that siblings bond is by conspiring to snooker their parents.
I really expected Jonah to be more difficult than this. If anything, he's been a blessing. It is, of course, early, and I'm sure that we'll have sibling rivalry issues to face down the road. Thus far, however, Jonah is really stepping up and being a Junior Man, and I am deeply grateful to him.
Ruth's having some trouble adjusting to someone else being "the baby". She's very friendly to Benjamin and wants to shower him with kisses all the time, but she's fragile and very quick to tears these past few days.
Jonah, on the other hand, is really shining. He appears to be drawing on a reserve of patience I never knew he had. He's tolerating Ruthie's obnoxious behavior without whacking her, even when she richly deserves it. When she begins to annoy him, he asks for help ("May Ruthie leave me alone, please?"). If I didn't know better, I would swear he's going out of his way to play with her more interactively.
He even tries to keep her out of trouble. Last night, after she smart-talked me for the umpteenth time, I told Ruth that she was not allowed to speak -at all- until bath time (about 15 minutes). I left the two of them in their room while I went downstairs to fetch something. As I re-ascended the stairs, I could hear Ruth and Jonah talking in low conspiratorial tones. I got angry and was preparing to scold her, but just as I turned the corner to enter the room, Jonah whirled to Ruthie and pressed his fingers to his lips and said "SHHHHHHH!" I decided to let it slide. One of the ways that siblings bond is by conspiring to snooker their parents.
I really expected Jonah to be more difficult than this. If anything, he's been a blessing. It is, of course, early, and I'm sure that we'll have sibling rivalry issues to face down the road. Thus far, however, Jonah is really stepping up and being a Junior Man, and I am deeply grateful to him.