That Kind of Sister

I'm well aware that things won’t always be puppy dogs and unicorns for Laurel and Violet. It's normal for sibling relationships to be rife with annoyances: Violet will get into and make a mess of Laurel’s stuff. Laurel will get frustrated that Violet doesn’t pay attention to her rules. Violet will tire of Laurel’s bossing. And so forth.

But for now, I’m relishing in the moment -- a time during which Laurel’s love for Violet is so pure and clear. Where Laurel is so devoted that she's willing to take the bullet -- so to speak -- for her sister.

When Laurel wakes up, the first person she wants to see is Violet.

When Laurel gets home from school, she immediately runs to wash her hands so she can then snuggle her sister.

Our home is replete with notes like this and pieces of artwork that Laurel has created for Violet.

When Laurel has a runny nose and we tell her she subsequently can’t smother Violet’s face with kisses, she pouts and says that she wants to move to Africa until her nose stops running because it’s too hard for her to see Violet’s cute, chubby face and not be able to kiss it.

I hear Laurel say things such as, “You’ll always be my BFF Violet” and “Violet, you’re my beloved baby sister” regularly.

And today, when I told Laurel that Violet needed to get shots in her haunches at her two month check up, Laurel got very upset. Once she recovered, she said, “No Mom, please, please let me go to the pediatrician. I’ll take the shots for Violet instead.”

She’s that kind of sister.