The Takeaway Check, Issue #58
My son turned one this week. My favorite thing is his relationship with his sister.
A topic I love writing about is siblings. It might be because I can relate, to the experience growing up with three siblings of my own and then marrying my wife and gaining two more, but I enjoy hearing about the unique family dynamics and what we’re able to learn about each other and grow along the way. In my book I’m working on, I’m writing both about Max and Miles Silva, who wound up playing at Navy and Army, as well as the Looney brothers, who played together at Navy.
One thing I’ve heard a lot of people talk about is how they started playing their sport because they watched their older sibling play, and they wanted to be just like them. It’s something I saw firsthand growing up. When my two brothers and I played lacrosse for our high school, my mom was at every game and so was my sister. She told my mom she wanted to play, too. We didn’t realize, however, she was drawn to the physicality of the sport, so when she first stepped onto the field sans helmet and pads, she was quite disappointed; she stuck with it and played all four years in high school, though I do think the desire to body someone never went away.
My son turned one this week, and one of my favorite things to experience as a parent has been watching his relationship with his older sister grow.
It wasn’t easy at first. My daughter took some time adjusting to not being the only child anymore; when he’d cry, she’d run to the laundry room and sit on the floor. When we asked what she was doing, she’d simply respond, “He’s making me sad.”
When you’re in it, you worry that it will last forever, but she grew out of it and now is obsessed with him. What’s fun is to see how obsessed he is with her, too.
When they’re on the swings next to each other, he sometimes sticks his hand out for a high five.
My daughter has taken some tumbling classes, and when she came home, she constantly practiced handstands and forward rolls. Well the next day, there was my son with his hands on the floor and dipping his head to the ground, mimicking the start of the forward roll.
My daughter has a toy microphone stand with a speaker built in, and my son has figured out how to turn it on, and he immediately puts his hands in the air and bends and unbends his knees, dancing. He’ll even bring her the microphone sometimes.
When I’m laying on the floor playing with them, my daughter will jump on me, and there is my son, not too far behind, climbing on me as well.
I think the best moments however come when my son starts laughing, which makes my daughter laugh, which then makes my son laugh harder.
We even say he learned to walk just so he could keep up and chase his sister around. It shows me that someone is watching you and looking up to you. Whether it’s a little sibling, a younger teammate, or a new coworker, someone is following your lead; hopefully, you’re setting the right example.
I know there will be times they get frustrated with each other (my daughter does get frustrated when my son messes up her dolls or wants to play with the same exact toy she is playing with), and he will find his own interests, too, but I’m enjoying seeing them establish love they have for each other.
My hope for them is that they never lose that, no matter where they go and what they do. I hope they lean on each other in hard times. I hope they joyfully celebrate together during the best of times. I hope they realize they always have each other.
My daughter has called my son a lot of nicknames in his one year of life (Buddy Boy, Suga’, Guy Guy, and of course, Stinky and Chunky), but there’s one I hope never goes away: Bestie.