When I was taking the older two kids to daycare this week, my 5 year old daughter said something very interesting to me - “Daddy, I’m proud to be a big sister.”

It was such a simple sentence, but wrapped up in all of the experiences she has had being a big sister for the last 3 years (almost 4 years at this point) to my first son. It made me think about all of the memories and times she has had with him and making sure to take care of him like a big sister should. While she wasn’t perfect (and I definitely do not expect her to be), she is an amazing big sister. It is a good balance of “I know better” energy with the “let me give you a hug and comfort you” energy.

The first time she became a big sister, I remember my wife and I were so nervous. We didn’t know what to expect since we were unsure of how she would process things. She was so little back then and I am not sure she understood what being a big sister actually meant (let alone why there is a baby in the house and where this baby came from). Over the course of a few weeks, her protective side came out and she was so loving and gentle with the new baby. It was really sweet to see.

As things progressed, yes there was fighting, arguing, hitting, and more. There still is. Thank goodness though that the overwhelming majority of experiences were fun, genuine, and loving. I’m sure my 5 year old really did take a lot of pride in all of those little moments that added to her core memory bank. So many times when we were out playing in the playground, some kids would accidentally (or purposefully) push her little brother down and she would come charging in and telling the other kids (bigger or smaller than her!) to watch it! Now I see the same from my 3 year old son whenever any kids mess with my 5 year old daughter. Things are being reciprocated.

Because my 5 year old daughter takes pride in being a big sister, I can already see similar traits in my 3 year old son when he is around the newborn. He is always trying to entertain and talk to his new baby brother. He is also trying to nurture and calm him down when he is crying about something (always crying…). It is really great to see these things rub off on my kids and it makes me feel like some things are going really well amongst the chaos of each day.

All these thoughts were wandering around in my head with just that small sentence from my daughter. Then I snapped back to reality as we pulled in for daycare drop off. I really do love car ride conversations with the kids, especially when they are not fussing with each other!