When a brother meets a sister coming through the rye

After months of build-up and anticipation, the Little Man finally got to meet the Little Miss in-person last night. I suspect it was a bitter letdown for him.

We’ve been building up to this point for some time. The Little Man knew he had a sister coming. He knew her name and that she was in mommy’s tummy. After we set up the Little Miss’s room, I’d ask him, “Whose room is this?” and he would say, “Baby sister!” When he got to the hospital yesterday, the Little Miss had been taken to the nursery to get cleaned up. (She wanted to look good for her big brother.) Meanwhile, the Little Man got to open some presents from his little sister, something he was very excited about.

He wasn’t so excited when she was brought back into the room. I’m not sure what he’d built up in his mind to expect, but whatever it was, it wasn’t that wrinkled thing wrapped up like a burrito. He didn’t really want to have anything to do with her. At first.

Over the next few hours, however, he warmed up to her a little. But just a little. He still didn’t want to try to hold her or kiss her or even touch her. But he did try to share some of his toys with her. And by the time he was getting ready to go home with his grandparents, he said goodbye to her repeatedly, and wished her a good night’s sleep.

I can only barely remember when my brother came home from the hospital. I was about the same age as the Little Man is, and I was excited because I knew a baby was coming, but I don’t remember any other emotion I might have had. I feel for the Little Man because so much is changing for him so rapidly. For more than two years he’s been the center of our attention and now we have to shift focus to the Little Miss. I’m trying to think of ways to make sure we include him (giving him little jobs to help out) but also to make sure that he doesn’t feel neglected.

I’m looking forward to him coming back today and hoping that he’ll warm up a little more to his sister. Stay-tuned…