sisterhood

My consistent prayer for my two little girls has been that they will be great friends. One day when they are older there may be something Annike won't be able to tell me. My prayer is that she will always have her sister, and that the wisdom implanted in them during these young years will be accessible when they need it.

Having a sibling is a great way to practice doing life with other people. I will even dare to say that it is one of the most character shaping tools in a young person's formative years.

Together, my girls get to practice what it is like to be someone's friend. We all need practice with friendship. Right now, they get to do it in a safe setting like our home where Momma is usually around to intercede when boundaries are crossed.

First Tea Party

Interactions with each other help my girls to understand themselves better. So far we are dealing with one introvert and one extrovert. Even small children need alone time and self-discerning these needs for down time is a valuable life skill.

Daily they practice sharing. And not sharing. And then being forced to share when they don't want to. This is the real world on a small, slightly safer scale.

They practice understanding someone who has different likes and dislikes, playing with someone who is a different age, and trying to compromise with someone who wants to play differently. They practice arguing and defending themselves, and hopefully will come out of it all learning to fight fair. 

All of the time they are learning about forgiveness. Feelings are hurt, rules are broken, but with sisters there is always forgiveness. Sometimes miraculously, life moves on without grudge-holding. Sisterhood is a beautiful picture of unconditional love.

Almost nothing warms my heart more than seeing these girls enjoy each others company. In the last few months there has been noticeable growth in how they interact. Annike has even started to miss Sommer's company. Nothing shocks and pleases me more than hearing things like:

"I don't like it when Sommer sleeps because I miss her!" and

"Sommy is missing all of the fun! Maybe we should wake her up?"

No way. That girl needs to stay asleep as long as possible, but still, my heart is warm to think that one of my daily prayers for these two is already being answered... that they would be great friends.