He Ain't Heavy...

When Shiloh was born last year, her brother Cyrus was ten years old. My initial thought was that a ten year age difference might preclude them from developing a close relationship. He would be too cool to want to hang with his little sister, no matter how cute and precocious she happened to be. He would bemoan the times when asked to keep an eye on her as Mom or Dad were occupied. Who could blame him if he were to cordon himself off in his room, doing big boy stuff, like playing video games, or enthralling himself for countless hours playing the nonsensical Bay Blades. If you haven't seen this game, some genius has made a fortune creating a game based on what we used to do to amuse ourselves when I was little. Only then we used spining tops, or if you were in a pinch, Jacks. The new millenial version has a battle arena and a gizmo to attach to the "spinner" that really gets it going. Shiloh likes to sit by his side and watch the action. Sometimes she will interrupt a particularly intense match by grabbing one of the combatants and running out of the room with it. They also enjoy cavorting in the Master bed, dispersing covers all over the place. It is not uncommon for me to flinch and wince simultaneously from some small, sharply edged toy placed in perfect positon to dig into my back at the most inopportune time. When I scold her for touching things she should't be touching, it is not Mommy that she seeks refuge with, it's Cyrus. "Cyyyyy" was one of her first utterances, after hearing her Mom yell it at the top of her lungs trying to pierce his wall of silence in his bedroom upstairs. What I am learning is that the age difference can be an issue, directly dependant upon the overall affection that we share as a family. When love prevails, it supercedes every other thought a child has. Now if only she felt that way about bigger brother Joe. The fact that he is even taller than her Daddy leaves her baffled as to his place in this family pecking order. She will warm up to him the more time he spends in her presence. He is an adult and working and has a life, so there's not a whole lot of time left over. But until she does get to know and like him better, there's always..."Cyyyyy".