Of course, by now you’ve realized that Mother’s Day is tomorrow.  Hard to miss isn’t it?  The blogosphere is abuzz with Mom’sDay contests, posts etc.  When I pause to reflect upon the most precious moments in my mothering career one ongoing theme stands out very clearly - sibling love.  How sweet it is, how tender and how helpful for mother’s!

It wasn’t until our second child was born that I could realize the immense benefits of having multiple children.  As soon as our second daughter (R) was born, our oldest daughter (K) took to her like a fish to water.  The baby was ‘her baby’.  Our oldest was so protective of our new little one, so very tender, gentle and sweet.  I had worried how she would take it - there was a 3 year difference between the two and K was used to being an only child.  The transition was so sweet and easy, we had prepared K for R’s birth by talking together about the coming baby, watching birth videos, reading stories about babies being born, and about little sisters.  The intense love between the two was just amazing to me to see, and it has only grown with time.

Do they have sibling rivalry?  Yes, they do.  A couple of years later they do get a bit pushy with eachother and need some careful instruction from time to time to avoid eruptions, but that love is still there.  Now that they are older they love to play together, and I have to say that 80% of the time it is peaceable play that requires little intervention.  These sibling squabbles only serve to teach them to put others before themselves, how to share, how to take turns and other basic skills needed for human interaction.  When I see them playing together, or laying on the floor having a cuddle it brings immense joy to my Mamma heart.

Being a mother is such a sweet blessing, and being a mother to more than one child is even sweeter.  I look forward to meeting the little one that is nearing birth in a couple of months, and any others that the Lord may bless us with!