Fun With Big Sister

I never had a sister. I wanted one desperately but my parents gave me a younger brother instead. He's okay, I like him. I might even say I love him, but that might get embarrassing...for him.

My husband and I were nice enough to give our oldest, a girl, a younger sister. Into this sibling M has had a place to put into effect all her "mothering" instincts I was never able to do with my younger brother. And believe me I had those instincts as well!

One example of my frustrated efforts: my brothers were playing around one day and - as often happened - my younger bro got hurt. He was about eight at the time (I think) and still small enough to fit on my lap. So I sat him down, put my arms around him, and tried to get him to tuck his head into my shoulder. You know, as a child would it's mother. To my consternation instead of appreciating this tender moment he lifted up his head, gave me a disdainful look and asked, "What are you doing?"

I let him go.

Of course these days I've got all sorts of kids to hug and squeeze and kiss boo boo's better, and it really is fun for me to see my oldest trying to mother her siblings. There was a recent shift in the relationship between my daughters, one my husband made certain I documented with pictures, and I am so glad I did.

We typically have spaghetti on Sundays, and M enjoys the chance to cook it, under supervision of course. A few weeks ago M took the opportunity to teach her little sister something about the art of cooking spaghetti.

Here they are after the noodles have been cooked. A is helping M pat the sauce into the pan to warm up.



















And now they're mixing in the sauce together. Yum.



















Here's A showing us her "I'm so happy someone let me help" face.

Too cute, right? A loved it when we all thanked her for helping to make dinner :)

One of the biggest experiences I had with "sisters" was the year I spent at college with some of my school friends. One of our most favorite things to do was play with one another's hair. The other night I asked M to get me her brush so I could play with hers. Here's a little sampling.

Isn't her hair color gorgeous?!?! She keeps talking about wanting to dye it one day. I desperately hope she doesn't, and learns to appreciate just how beautiful it is.

Here's another braid I used to do to myself when I was a little older than her.

She really has fantastic hair for braiding. I just wish we had more time in the mornings to do things with her hair. Oh well. I supposed making sure she's not in her jammies at school is a bit more important.

One last "do." This time I had some fun making her look EXTRA pretty :)

Marvelous, isn't it? You can see it makes her VERY HAPPY!

Though I may not have had all the sisters I wanted as a kid, I'm more than blessed with sisters now. All my sisters-in-law have loved me and blessed me more than I could ever have hoped. The sisters in my various wards over the years have filled that lonely place in my heart more often than I could have imagined. As I grow older, I found my most favorite and beloved sister has become my own mother. How lucky can a girl get?!