Big sister's concerns

Brielle is starting to have the weight of being an older sister to TWO little girls sink in.

The other day at dinner she was so sweet and helped Claire say the blessing on the food. I told her she was such a great big sister and that she was going to be such a great big sister to the baby when she was born.

Never short on dramatics around here, she threw her hand up against her chest and said "Oh. My. Gosh. How am I going to be able to help TWO little girls say their prayers when the baby is old enough to say prayers? I don't know how I'm going to do that! I guess I will keep helping Claire and you'll just have to help the baby, or we could switch off taking turns."

On top of wondering how she is going to be able to be a good big sister to two little girls...much like my uncertainty of being able to wrangle three little girls...she is worrying about a few other things baby related as well. Some quotes since the talk of baby sister has increased:

"How is Eliana (her cousin) going to be able to fit in our car with us when the baby is here? The car will be almost all filled up, there will not be room for Eliana!" Um...I'm not sure how big she thinks the baby is going to be. We do have a minivan.

"How is there going to be room on your lap for the baby after she's born when we're reading books at night in the rocking chair? Maybe we'll have to sit on my bed so that the baby can be in your lap and me and Claire can sit on the bed."

"Where is the baby going to sleep? We only have one bed and one crib?!" (This was pre-Texas when we didn't have the bunk beds set up though...that has since been remedied.)

"Can we go to a baby store...just so I can look at baby stuff. We don't have to buy stuff yet, I just want to look at the tiny cute stuff."

My personal favorite "Can we just keep some of the presents we bought for Aunt Emily's baby? I like that stuff for our baby."

Claire on the other hand - obviously - has no idea what is about to happen to her little life. Every time the word "baby" is mentioned, she simply points at herself and says "I'M a baby". When asked if she wants a little sister, she tells us, "I'M the little sister". She doesn't get it...poor dear, I feel bad for her.

I felt bad for Brielle when Claire came, the dethroning process can be rough on them...plus I've seen the way Claire treats cats, toys, her older sister and baby dolls and I'm a bit worried for the safety and health of this new bundle. Claire isn't purposefully mean or rough, she just loves REALLY enthusiastically sometimes.

Maybe I should take a lesson from Claire though...I'm sure the world would be a much better place if we all learned to love a little more enthusiastically.