I wish I was a grown up

My darling six-year-old daughter is so enthralled with her new baby brother that she wants to hold him every chance she gets. She can hardly wait for me to finish feeding him before she gets a chance to hold him again.

Being a big sister for the second time has really brought out the best in her sweet little personality. She is suddenly more helpful, more polite, and more considerate. The effects of this are spilling over into her behavior with her 3-year-old brother too. It's wonderful! (I feel like I need to knock on wood just typing out the words so I don't jinx it.)

I had to hold back a chuckle the other day when she said one of the cutest things. She was holding baby Ryan on her lap when she looked at me with her big brown eyes, a serious expression on her face.

"Mama, I wish I was a grown up so that he could be my baby," she said wistfully.

Ha! I know she really thinks that's true but if only she knew how much work and stress she'll have when she's a grown up and how much she'll wish for the carefree days of childhood again... Laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, cleaning, work, bills, etc. (Do I need to go on?) Then again, that's my grown up perspective and I don't really remember how it feels to be six-years-old.

I gently reminded her that if Ryan was her baby she would have to change his poopy diapers and wake up with him at night. She really thought about that for a while. Maybe being the big sister is enough for now after all.