Big Sister Duties

I have a pretty awesome life. One of the highlights of my life is my little brother. Born on the same day as me, 16 years apart. I was so upset that I was getting a little brother at my “big” age and finding out he was born on MY day. It was a mess. But when I held him for the first time after he was brought back from the hospital, my whole life change. I knew this little guy was going to be the center of the life, and I would do anything to see him happy and healthy. Ever since that moment, I have lived up to those first thoughts and with that being said, I hate seeing him cry or hurt. This leads us to our story about patience.

I was tasked with taking care of him during the summer at a summer camp while my step mom was working. I enjoyed it so much and I think he did too. I believe he was only 4-6 months old at the time. Taking care of an infant that young was a fair challenge of its own. It was one day where we were sitting on the bed playing with whatever toys he had at the time when he started crying. I began to try and calm him but nothing was working. He was just screaming away and I had no idea why. My heart was breaking seeing him the way he was and being able to do nothing about it. I started to get overwhelmed and I began to freak out too. I started crying. I was so scared, worried, and overstimulated. Then I was thinking about how he must see things, his sister looking down at him, crying and poking and prodding at him to find the source of his upset state. He must have felt just alone as I did. I pick him up and held him close to my chest while walking around the room rocking him. In little time, he calmed right down and I had never been more grateful.

That moment has followed me all throughout my times with him since and it really helped me understand him a bit more. It also has been helping me understand the struggles on how to raise a kid but also giving me a head start. I love my little brother infinitely and I think my patience throughout this memory proves me right.

“In the summer camp” by Roderick Usher is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.