One of the best gifts in the world!

Last night, Taylor was in charge of family night, so she got to plan a lesson or activity for our family. She chose family unity and for an activity, she had us go around the room and say one nice thing about each person. Amanda wasn't there because she was at a school activity, so we wrote down the things we said about her and attached it to her bathroom mirror for her to find when she got home. What Taylor said was especially thoughtful and really made me think. She said:

"Amanda has always been my best friend because we've grown up together. I remember playing Space Girls, Atlantis, Moses and Star Wars. I like the advice she gives me."

Taylor's right. They have always been best friends. When they were little and Taylor would get in trouble, Amanda would cry. They'd go to bed every night telling each other stories. When they did each finally get their own room, they'd sleep together every night anyway, so we moved them back together. Amanda has always been Taylor's defender. Taylor has always been Amanda's guiney pig. When they were little, Taylor would do just about anything Amanda wanted, just to be with her. Taylor is stonger willed, but Amanda is older and, therefore, supposedly wiser. They've always found a balance that's worked well for them.

It's fun to see them now, joking around. They share a lot of friends. Watching them grow up together is an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. I hope that Sarah and Hannah are as close. I hope that Noah and Adam are this close. That's partly why we chose to have six children instead of five, to give Noah the same chance that the others have to grow up making forts with someone, having "sibling sleepovers" and having someone to herald his successes and lament his losses.

It's made me remember my own childhood. As children, my brother and I were not all that close. That's changed now that we are adults, but as children, we were four years apart, he was a B-O-Y and we have very different personalities. Even so, some of my best memories involve my brother. I remember when we played baseball and I stepped on a rusty nail, he, being the good boy scout that he is, took of his shirt and wrapped my foot up to slow the bleeding until my mom could finish taking care of me.

I remember listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks every Christmas with my brother. It was his favorite. That, and watching the Grinch. I also remember a very, very long Crazy 8 game, trapped in the very hot, stuffy camper of a pickup truck while we traveled from our home in Germany to Italy. I remember when the tire blew and the rubber flew up and was hitting the window. We thought we were being shot at. Well, maybe that was just me...

One of my favorite memories of my brother followed a fire that was close to our home. We were in the military and lived in one of those buildings where eight homes are together in one building, kind of like an out-of-control duplex. While we lived there, a fire started three "homes" down from ours and burned right up next to ours. I stood in the front yard while firemen threw all our stuff out the upstairs bedroom windows. I was a bit traumatized for a long time and when I'd go to bed, I'd lay there and smell smoke and imagine that the fire had started again. I remember going into my brothers room. He'd patiently get up, put on his shoes, and go outside and check, knowing full well there was no fire. When he came back in, I was in his bed, so he laid down and told me Fat Albert stories until I could go back to sleep.

I know many well adjusted only children, so I do not even pretend that kids need siblings to be happy. I think that families come in all sizes and shapes and there are many, many ways to raise happy kids, but I am glad for the experiences my children have with their siblings. I'm so happy that they are embracing the opportunity and understanding that while friends do come and go, move on, move away, find a new friend, or simply lose interest, siblings are forever. They are best friends that never, ever go away.