Big Sister Blues and Privileges

Katy has been such a loving, helpful, and enthusiastic big sister.  I really am proud of how well she has handled the changes in her life over the last four weeks.

My aunt Denise visited last week to help with the twins while Chris was out of town for work.  On Wednesday evening, Denise took Katy to her Adventurer's class in McAllen.  Katy fell asleep on the drive home.  A nap so close to bedtime is never a good thing and usually makes for an extra cranky Katy come bedtime.

Despite the nap, the bedtime routine went well and Katy was in bed soon after arriving home.  Half an hour later, however, she was standing in the kitchen telling me she could not sleep because she napped in the car.  I knew she was tired, so I told her to go back to bed several times.  Katy eventually asked me to lay down with her but I was busy feeding one of the babies.  After several minutes of discussion about going to bed, I told Katy that part of being a big sister is sharing me with the babies sometimes.   All of the sudden, Katy began sobbing.  I wrapped my free arm around her and asked why she was crying.  She responded, "because of the babies." And then she added, "I don't want to be a big sister."

My aunt, who had finished feeding the other baby by this time, offered to finish with the baby I had.  As I walked Katy to bed and laid down next to her, I could see that she was trying not to cry anymore.  I explained to Katy that it's okay to cry when we are sad about things changing.  This, of course, made Katy cry even more.

A couple days later when Denise left, Katy went with her.  The plan was to spend a night with cousins Elayna and Kaylie and a night with cousins Evie and Elijah before returning home when my parents came to visit.  Katy was so incredibly excited about the trip and the prospect of playing with so many cousins.  She had more fun packing a suitcase, filling a bag with activities for the car ride, and preparing snacks.  When it came time to leave, I talked at length with Katy about her trip: where she would sleep, who she would visit, and how she would return home.  I also explained that going on a trip to visit cousins without mom and dad is something special that big sisters can do but that the babies cannot do.

It was a big week for Katy.  She has her first episode of the big sister blues.  She also went on her first trip without mom and dad (and she loved it, even if she did cry when she came home).