Big Sister

Frances is such a good big sister. I don't know how she learned (since
neither of her parents had younger siblings) but she is a great big
sister.

A couple weeks ago, I went to the gym late in the evening. Arial put
the kids to bed and was satisfied that they were asleep. So, she went
downstairs to run.

While she was running, she noticed Frances on the stairs. She then
pieced together what happened.

At some point after Arial started running, Johann woke up and started
crying. Arial couldn't hear him over the treadmill but this woke up
Frances, who then went in to comfort Johann. This was evidenced by
Johann's light being turned on. She most likely sang to him since she
often sings to him when he is upset in the car (isn't she a good
sister?). When that failed to calm him, she went down and got Arial to
help calm him.

All said and done, Frances did everything right. She tried to solve the
problem herself and when that failed, she got help. I'm very proud of
her.

Another anecdote: I have been taking Frances with me to the gym when
they have child care open. She absolutely loves "playing with the
kids". But last week, I started taking Johann with us.

The first day I dropped him off, I told Frances that she needed to help
Johann. She immediately ran over to this stand-alone door thing and
indicated that I should bring Johann. Together, they played with the
door and Johann seemed like he was enjoying himself, so I left to work
out.

When I came back Johann was having a fine time watching a movie with all
the other kids. It wasn't traumatic for him at all. Even yesterday
when I left, I told Frances that she should take care of Johann and she
immediately stopped what she was doing and ran over to him.

I don't pretend to believe that they play together the whole time (in
fact I know they don't) but she helps him feel comfortable there. And
I'm sure if he ever became upset, she would help.

She's a good sister.

mwz