Family Involvement

New babies are so novel and exciting, but often their siblings don’t see them that way. A family that I visited recently had a new edition, and her two older brothers, ages two and five, are opposite in their reaction to her. The younger boy was not interested in her and paid her little attention at first, while the older brother is completely enamored. Five year old Timothy is so head over heels with his new sister that he talks about her constantly, asks what he can do to help, sings her songs, and even told his mother that he loves her so much that he thinks that when they become adults he will be her husband because he always wants her with him! Timothy’s enthusiasm is starting to rub off on David, and Mom is trying to teach to them the things that we discuss in our lessons. After learning that babies are attracted to black and white high contrast pictures, Timothy began using only his black crayons, and defining all of the lines very dark so that she can see them. Timothy has encouraged his brother David to do the same. Mother says that she is beginning to get tired of all of the black and white drawings that Timothy has taped all over the babies room, but that she is so pleased that the boys are so enthusiastic about their little sister and wanting to learn more about her development, so they can help her grow up to be strong and smart. It is so fun that the WHOLE family is taking to heart the newborns development and the fun activities that I bring with the lessons.
Jamie