You all can go kick rocks.
All through my pregnancy I was told how much of a terror my 2-year-old was going to be once her brother was born. I was told all sorts of horror stories about sibling rivalry, yet I was not going to fret over it. I had bigger fish to fry, like making sure my high-risk pregnancy did not result in yet another extremely premature child.
As far as I was concerned, if she had trouble adjusting, we would cross that bridge when we got there.
I have to admit I was definitely a little worried. She was premature and I stayed home until she was 20 months before I sent her to daycare. so, yeah,I worried I was facing an uphill battle regarding her reaction to another baby. My whole household literally revolved around her, so while the warnings were perhaps valid, they were VERY discouraging.
Stories of constant fighting, older siblings asking the parents to return the baby from wherever they came from, and even tales that sound like possible attempted assault, made me realize that, should a rivalry begin, I was going to have to teach her how she should and should not interact with her brother.
She’s a toddler who is already going through terrible twos. The potential for her to be a monster older sibling was a high possibility, so I decided I simply was not going to tolerate it.
But I didn’t have to. Now he’s 8 months and she’s almost 3 and she has had nothing but love for her brother. She proudly takes ownership of him. That is HER baby. Their bond is heartwarming.
Does she have her moments when she is jealous? Of course. Usually only when Nana is snuggling him, because — well, that’s HER Nana.
Did I really need a multitude of people letting me know my kid would be some horrible monster to our new family addition? Not really, but I appreciate that it made me prepare myself. I appreciate having one awesome toddler more though.
So you all can still definitely kick rocks!
