Sibling Sweetness, Part One (Project 358: Day 52)

Day 52: Two is Perfect, Two is Just Right

As I washed dishes at my kitchen sink the other day, I could hear my children interacting in the living room. I could tell right away that they were both in calm, happy moods and that they would be content just being together and talking for quite a while. I sensed none of the energy that seems to be present immediately before Evan starts yelling because Elinor messed up his game, or Elinor starts crying because Evan punched her, or they both start rattling off a whiny list of "I wants" because they are both in desperate need of attention. Instead, the energy was calm, their voices sweet and loving. This made me smile to myself and, after listening to them for a bit, I realized that Evan was reading to Elinor. Of course, he doesn't know how to read, not really, not yet. So, I suppose a more accurate description would be that he was reciting to her books that he had memorized. He went through about four or five books in this manner, sometimes reading slowly as he tried hard to remember the correct words that went with each picture, and at other times reciting at an impressive clip, mimicking the inflections that I use when I read to him and occasionally pausing before the last word of a sentence and looking to his sister to "fill in the blank," as Stephen and I often do with him. It was really, truly one of the sweetest things that I have ever heard and I could feel my heart swelling as I listened. I cannot imagine my life without him, without her, without the both of them, the two that complete so perfectly our four.