Kindness Among Siblings

"If you want to do really important things in life and big things in life, you can't do anything by yourself.  And your best teams are your friends and your siblings."
~ Deepak Chopra

There are few things nicer for a mother to observe than kindness among siblings -- even if they are someone else's children.

My children have friends who are brother and sister.  Interestingly enough, neither child is in the same grade as any of my children.  They did all attend the same school at one point, but no longer.  Nonetheless, all of my children really like this brother-sister duo.  And as a mother, I love having children over who are so nice that they bring out the best in my children.  These two easily fit the bill.

On a recent weekend afternoon, I found my children playing a game on their iPads while FaceTiming with the sister.  They were all playing a game together.  I offered to pick her up as we are blessed that they live a few blocks away.  We also invited the brother, but he was finishing homework, so the mother said that she would bring him over later.  After I picked up the sister, we stopped at an Argentinian restaurant to get some food for takeout.  As I was driving back home, the mother texted me to say that her son had finished his homework and that she could bring him over.  I told her that I was still in the car and could run by and get him.

When I picked up the brother, I asked him if he was hungry and shared that we had bought food and that I would be happy to go back to the restaurant to get him something.  He said that he had eaten lunch and wasn't too hungry -- yet.  His sister offered to give him half of her empanada, but he initially did not seem too interested.  When we arrived at my house a few minutes later, the brother said to the sister, "You know, I think I am hungry now."  She immediately prepared to give him half of hers.  One of my children had asked for two, so I suggested that she give him one of hers and that worked out.  The sister also had a small strawberry tart and she offered half to her brother, which he graciously accepted.  I was very touched by the sister's generosity and by the nice way that the siblings speak to each other.

As a friend of mine shared with me years ago, chances are that siblings are probably the people you will know the longest in life.  And as I have learned, they are a unique and important link to our past.  It is truly a lovely thing to see such kindness among siblings.  It bodes well for their future.