Just Like His Brother

I worked out of the home as a Speech and Language Pathologist until Spring7 was born. Often, I'd have early meetings so my husband was on duty in the morning, getting Summer10 up and ready for the babysitter's. It was a relief to leave the house and not worry about dropping off the little man in the morning plus it gave "the guys" some special time together.

We're a family who thrives on the familiar so the two guys had a set routine in the morning. Part of the routine involved having Summer10 pick out one special stuffed animal to bring downstairs. We limited it to one special animal because Summer10 slept with a zoo of animals in his bed that allowed just enough space for his little body. Something to know about my oldest son is that he's not a very good decision maker and choosing one stuffed animal became increasingly difficult. Finally, came the morning when Summer10 stood up on his bed and said with a sweeping arm and all the authority of Charlton Heston, "All animals". Well, that didn't get very far but it gave us a good laugh.

Enter Winter3 at about the same age. My husband and Winter3 have a special bedtime routine (we love those routines!). They snuggle on a bed and tell stories...two stories per night. My husband is a great storyteller and lets Winter3 help him. They have a bunch of stories they've come up with and rotate through them including stories about a goat, Blues Clues, a little boy named Winter3, a monster named Henry (that one stopped when Winter3 thought Henry had moved into his closet) and so on.

As it happens, Winter3 isn't much of a decision maker himself. He's finding it increasingly difficult to choose only two stories each night. Out of the blue, with a glint in his eye but no authority in his voice he said, "All stories!" He giggled because he knew that was just a crazy idea. The next night he said, "All stories! Dat's funny!"

My boys are very different people but brothers have similarities that run deep. Both little boys had the same problem and tried to solve it in basically the same way, one with a sense of importance and one with a sense of humor. The same but different.

By the way, neither one got their wish!