September 1, 2011
Prepping Violet for Big Sisterhood
Last night I was watching an episode of Mad Men. It was the episode where Sally is scared of her new baby brother, Gene, and begins to act out. She has nightmares, screams when she sees the baby, etc.
Perfect timing, no? You see, ever since we found out that we were going to have another baby, I have worried about Violet. How will she handle not being the only child? Will she feel secure? How will she do sharing a room? What if she acts out? My thoughts could go on and on…..
Now on Mad Men, Sally turned out to be scared of her baby brother because he reminded her of her recently deceased grandfather with the same monkier (oh Mad Men and your mid century drama). We don’t have any haunting dead relatives for Violet to worry about. Yet Violet has been extra clingy ever since talk of the baby started back in March. So, I have really been trying to spend more time with Violet and talk to her about her new sister. I want her to be really excited and really involved!
I have taken Violet on special mommy daughter yogurt trips. We wake up early together and put our aprons on and partake in our daily ritual of making cinnamon toast (she loves to sprinkle that cinnamon sugar mixture).
Violet and I talk daily about baby sister. She feels the baby kick my belly. She wants to go on stroller walks with her once she is born. I tell Violet all of the time how she will be momma’s big girl helper once the baby arrives. And Violet wants to be a big girl so badly! She is almost 3, and to see this fiercely independent little girl attempting to do little things all on her own, like brushing her own teeth or picking out her own clothes, reminds me how quickly time passes. Not too long ago, she was that little newborn that I cradled in my arms 🙂
I know that no matter how much we prep Violet, change is coming. Transition is tough, and, as my husband put it yesterday, our world is going to turn upside down yet again!
Moms, do you have any suggestions on how you prepped your children for a new addition to the family?
How exciting 🙂
My daughter was 2 3/4 when she became a big sister, she would sing to my tummy but we didn’t try and explain too much (she does remember helping me put his cot together though!)
She was given a baby doll, and we gave her a Sylvanian Families set of animals with a Mummy, Daddy, sister and baby, but she was never a ‘little mum’ copying me with feeding or changing him, she just accepted him as part of her routines straight away (like she would always check he was coming in the car with us). When he was a newborn and sleeping a lot her day really didn’t change much, it got more challenging once he was crawling and into her toys!
Some advice I really liked was to keep having outings with just the older child when you can, even if it is just out for a treat for half an hour. And one thing that was lovely was her and her dad getting so close and being a bit of a team. All the best!
(p.s love the Mad Men episodes around the baby, will always remember Betty going home from hospital looking immaculate!)