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The Older Sibling Backup (aka The Dinosaur Nightmare)

In the beginning of the week I got the dreaded phone call from my kids' daycare, and right before I answered the phone I whispered to myself, "Fuck, I knew this was gonna happen!" That's because the night before, my son was up all night with a snotty nose and a low-grade fever, but he is also teething, so I sent him to daycare anyway hoping that's all it was. I answered, already knowing what they were gonna tell me: "I'm sorry to bother you, but your son is running a fever of 101.5 and has been fussy all day." If you're the parent of a child in daycare, you know the rules: your kid cannot return to daycare until he/she has been fever-free, without help from OTC meds, for 24 hours. Let me tell you, that next day was a complete blur, but I do clearly remember the dinosaur.


Don't leave, I swear the dinosaur is relevant! I'll get to that in a sec!


That night, once again, my poor little guy barely slept. Which means *I* barely slept, and my daughter slept peacefully and blissfully unaware of the hell that was unleashed that night. In my exhausted state, I still managed to get myself and daughter up at 6:30am, got us both dressed (baby boy got to spend the day in PJ's), both my kids fed (cereal is a wonderful creation), and out the door to drop her off at daycare and make it to the pediatrician for his 9:15am appointment ten minutes early (no, that's not a joke). After his appointment (he’s got a virus that's going around, nothing major) my son was getting tired and we made it home just in time for his nap. Once he was out, I had every intention of grabbing a quick nap myself, but then I looked around the house and saw ALL.THE.THINGS: dishes in the sink, coffee cup still out, laundry that hadn't even been started yet, overflowing trash bag I've been neglecting to take out... and much more. So I did the things and before I knew it, my son declared his nap time was over, and not only was he feeling better, he was HANGRY.


We had lunch, we cleaned up, then we played for what seemed like hours, but honestly, was probably only 30 minutes, and I needed to lie down. I brought his favorite dinosaur toys (told you I was getting there) into our living room, turned on Peppa Pig, and sat on the couch to shut my eyes. I ended up dozing off and was actually having a pretty nice dream, when all of a sudden a fucking dinosaur popped into my dream going "ROOOOAAAAR! ROOOOAAAAR! ROOOOAAAAR," over and over again and I won't lie, it was scaring the shit out of me. Then the dinosaur started hitting me over and over again! That's when I woke up and found my son beating my leg with his stupid fucking PLASTIC T-Rex and ROOOOAAAARing at me... so much for relaxing.


The rest of the day was just as hectic as the morning and before I knew it, it was time to pick up my daughter. She immediately asked what we were having for dinner and I told her I was too tired to cook. What came out of her mouth floored me: "That’s okay mom, you don't have to cook all the time. Hey! Can we have Wendy's?" I had this reaction because I expected her to get upset that I wasn't going to be cooking. It's not like I've never ordered in or hit the drive-thru before, but maybe because I've never openly admitted to her that I was too tired to cook made me think she would react the way she normally reacts when I tell her I'm too tired to do something ("Aww, but that's not fair!"). That moment showed me how empathetic she is, which made me realize that she's growing up. In my eyes, she earned her Wendy's!


By the time dinner was done and cleaned up and I got both kids ready for bed, I was losing steam again and told my daughter I was going to lie down for a minute and to play quietly with her brother. I had my eyes closed, but I didn't doze off this time for fear of another dinosaur attack. I could hear them playing, and I heard my son starting to make his way towards the couch. At the last second I heard my daughter run over and say, in a very quiet voice, "No no, leave mommy alone and let her rest, buddy. Go get your dinosaurs." Again, I was floored. I listened with my eyes shut for the next ten minutes as my two kids played nicely together, and whenever my son started to do something he wasn't' supposed to, my daughter was right there to keep him in check. For those ten minutes, she was in charge, and I didn't even ask her to be. She took the initiative, and I have to pat myself and my husband on the back because we must be doing something right after all! As I tucked her into bed later that night, I gave her my usual hugs and kisses, but added, "You were such a big help to me tonight. Thank you for being such an amazing big sister." Her response: "You're always helping me and my brother. Now I help you!"


We always wish our kids wouldn't grow up so fast, but I'm going to be honest and say that night I am extremely grateful for how grown up she acted. Of course we want them to stay little forever, but as much as you cherish those moments when they are little, I hope you always remember the moments they show you just how amazing they grow up to be.

 
 
 

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