Flying Ponytails

I have these moments in the day that remind me - even if only for a moment - why I have the greatest job in the world. I have some days when I feel like this all day long, like those first really warm days of the year when its 70 degrees and fully sunny and everyone is stuck in their office hoping the weekend will be nice and I'm outside soaking it up with the girls. I also have days when I know I must simply be insane to have volunteered for this gig.

This morning, I had one of those "best job in the world" moments. EC and LR got new shoes over the weekend - sparkly, pink and purple, girly shoes. They are over the moon about them, not just because they are girly, but because every kid knows that new shoes make you run faster and jump higher. We were getting ready to head out for the day, so after she was dressed and coifed, EC put on her new shoes and started running from one end of the living room to the other.

"Look at me, mommy, I'm superfast!" she shouted.

I finished up LR's ponytails and she brought me her shoes. She wanted to be superfast too. I put them on her and she took off in her new pink sneakers, racing with her big sister. They ran back and forth, ponytails flying. They were giggling in the way that only sisters and best friends can - laughing as they bounced off each other and the bedroom door. Sprinting back and forth like it was the most fun thing to do in the entire world. They had matching laughs and matching ponytails. And I stood there watching them and thinking that this is the exact reason that we had two - so EC would always and forever have someone to be silly and superfast and giggly with. That whenever she was doing the most fun thing in the entire world, that she could look over and see that she had someone to share it with.

Sisterly Camaraderie

Usually when the girls get hurt, they want the person who was farthest away to comfort them. For example, if Mommy is home and Daddy is at work when EC falls down, she wails for Daddy. It works this way when the hurt is not physical, too. If Mommy takes something away from LR, her tantrum is filled with pleas for Daddy to help her out.

An interesting dynamic is developing at our house though. LR is seeking a new kind of comfort when she's in need... she seeks out her big sister. Its touching. And exactly what we had in mind when we decided that two kids would be better than one. We wanted to give our little girl someone to lean on for life. G and I both came from large families - six kids in my family and five in his. We knew that we would never be crazy enough to replicate those numbers, but we really wanted EC to have a sibling because we know just how great siblings are.

I know that this sisterly comfort will eventually develop into the kind of camaraderie that involves sneaking out windows after curfew and commiserating over how evil Mom is for setting a curfew in the first place. However, I don't mind any of that as long as, in the end, they have each other's back.

In the meantime, I can't help but be a little emotional when I see LR go running off to her big sister for a hug and some comforting words. I'm not jealous that she's not coming to Mommy for that hug. I'm so happy that she knows she has more than just her parents to go to for support.