Sibling harmony

How laid back is Miss Fiona?

Her big brother poured cold water on her this afternoon and she didn't utter a sound. I turned around and she was soaked and grinning at him. The two of them are starting to form a special bond already. And her reaction to his impishness makes me think she'll be a willing participant later rather than the tattletale. In short, they're probably going to gang up on me.

Fiona is quite amused with Danny. She smiles when she sees him. This afternoon, he sat by her car seat and let her "kick" him in the head. He giggled hysterically, she gave him a wide grin. She even lets him stick a pacifier in her mouth.

I know most moms will say that they don't care whether they have a boy or a girl. Well, I'm not most moms or maybe I'm just more honest than most moms. When I first got pregnant, I had hoped for another little boy. Every boy should have a brother, I thought; just like every girl should have a sister.

Now that we have a girl, I do wonder what their relationship will be like. Will he be protective of her like so many older brothers are? Will they be best friends like my sister and I are? Will he confide in her like I confide in my sister? My own brothers are five and seven years younger than me. I'm close to and protective of them, but the relationship with my sister is different, beyond what words can even express. I want Fiona to have that, especially since there's no way I could ever supply her with that level of friendship. And while I can't speak to the relationship between brothers, there must be a similarly deep level of friendship to which no other relationship compares. I want Danny to have that, too.

Jim once said that holding out for a girl was how most of the Meehans ended up with six kids. Now that we have a girl, we could well end up with six kids just trying to set them each up with a same-sex sibling. I've always felt, though, that the very best gift my parents ever gave us was devoting the time and energy to raising multiple children to ensure that we would always have each other.

Of course, after today (see previous post), more than two children seems like a crazy idea. But tomorrow they'll be angels and I'll start daydreaming about having another one. That's how they get you ...