Room To Spare

One question parents of young children have to answer for themselves is: What will it do to the child or children we already have if we bring someone new into the family? By the time I was expecting Connor, Keilana was almost five and had been the only child the whole time. Thinking that every singleton must long for a sibling, I was distressed and puzzled by Keilana’s increasingly aggressive behavior as the baby’s due date approached. One day while we were waiting for a table at Marie Callender’s, she said she was going to “bite the baby.” Not realizing she meant right away, I told her I didn’t think that was a very good idea. The next thing I knew, she clamped her sharp little teeth on my tummy and made good on her threat. When I asked her later what was going on with her, she said that everyone kept telling her what a good big sister she would be and she didn’t know how to be a big sister. Poor, stressed-out little girl! I told her I didn’t know how to be the mommy of two children either, so we would have to help each other. When Connor arrived two days later, peace had been restored. In Julie Jacobs’ My Heart is a Magic House, Stephanie worries that a new baby means she will be displaced but her mommy tells her that there’s room and love enough for everybody. That’s a relief for big sisters…and mommies, too.

http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Magic-House-Julie-Jacobs/dp/0807553352


http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Julie/Jacobs/